WEBVTT - 051824 Way Black History Fact - The First Open Heart Surgery

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, it's time for our way Black History Fact.

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<v Speaker 1>In Today's way, Black History Fact is sponsored by Major Threads.

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<v Speaker 1>For innovative, fashionable sportswear, check major threads dot com. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to talk about doctor Daniel Hill Williams, who

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<v Speaker 1>has an inspiring story. He was born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania,

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<v Speaker 1>on January eighteenth, eighteen fifty six. Daniel was the eldest

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<v Speaker 1>son of eight children. Around the age of ten, his

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<v Speaker 1>father died of tuberculosis. The family moved to Baltimore, Maryland

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<v Speaker 1>to live with relatives. Daniel became a shoemaker apprentice, and

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<v Speaker 1>he disliked the work and returned to his family's barbering business. Ultimately,

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<v Speaker 1>Daniel decided to pursue his education. He worked as an

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<v Speaker 1>apprentice with doctor Henry Palmer, who was considered a highly

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<v Speaker 1>accomplished surgeon. Daniel graduated with an MD degree in eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty three at Chicago Medical College. Doctor Williams practiced medicine

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<v Speaker 1>in Chicago at a time when there were only three

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<v Speaker 1>other black physicians in Chicago. He also worked with the

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<v Speaker 1>Equal Rights League, a black civil rights organization active during

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<v Speaker 1>the Reconstruction era. Considered a thoughtful and skilled surgeon. Doctor

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<v Speaker 1>Williams's practice grew as he treated both black and white patients.

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<v Speaker 1>In eighteen eighty nine, he was appointed to the Illinois

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<v Speaker 1>State Board of Health now known as the Illinois Department

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<v Speaker 1>of Public Health and worked with medical standards and hospital rules.

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<v Speaker 1>Doctor Williams practiced during an era when racism and discrimination

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<v Speaker 1>prohibited African Americans from being admitted to hospitals and denied

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<v Speaker 1>the black doctor's employment on hospital staff. To counteract this practice,

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<v Speaker 1>doctor Williams founded the Provident Hospital and Training School for

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<v Speaker 1>Nurses now called Provident Hospital of Cook County in Chicago.

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<v Speaker 1>This emerged as the first hospital in the country with

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<v Speaker 1>a nursing and intern program that hired African Americans. This

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<v Speaker 1>hospital had the distinction of being the first medical facility

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<v Speaker 1>to have an interracial staff. In eighteen ninety three, doctor

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<v Speaker 1>Williams became the first surgeon to perform open heart surgery

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<v Speaker 1>on a human. Well that's why we're talking about him today.

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<v Speaker 1>As a black man, Doctor Williams performed the nation's first

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<v Speaker 1>open heart surgery at the Provident Hospital in the summer

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<v Speaker 1>of eighteen ninety three. The operation was done without X rays, antibiotics,

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<v Speaker 1>surgical prep work or tools of modern surgery. Doctor Williams's

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<v Speaker 1>skill placed him and Provident Hospital at the forefront of

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<v Speaker 1>one of Chicago's medical milestones. His patient, James Cornish, survived

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<v Speaker 1>he was discharged fifty one days after his remarkable surgery.

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<v Speaker 1>He was considered a pioneering heart surgeon during a time

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<v Speaker 1>when technological discoveries were revolutionizing the practice of medicine. In

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen ninety four, doctor Williams moved to Washington, d c.

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<v Speaker 1>Whereas chief surgeon of the Freedom Freedman's Hospital. He continued

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<v Speaker 1>his assault on health disparities by encouraging the employment of

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<v Speaker 1>a multi racial staff and promoting the use the advancement

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<v Speaker 1>of surgical procedures. In eighteen ninety five, he co founded

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<v Speaker 1>the National Medical Association, a professional organization for black medical practitioners.

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<v Speaker 1>This organization was instituted as an alternative to the all

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<v Speaker 1>White Medical Association that did not extend membership to black doctors.

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<v Speaker 1>When doctor Williams left the Freedman's Hospital in eighteen ninety eight,

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<v Speaker 1>he returned to Providence. He later moved to Cook County

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<v Speaker 1>Hospital and then to the larger Saint Luke's. He worked

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<v Speaker 1>at Maharry Medical College for about twenty years, beginning in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen ninety nine, and in nineteen thirteen he became a

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<v Speaker 1>charter member of the American College of Surgeon. Doctor Daniel

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<v Speaker 1>Hell Williams experienced a stroke and died five years later

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen thirty one. So kind of a neat story there.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we have a problem with heart disease, and

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<v Speaker 1>you know all that sort of stuff in this country.

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<v Speaker 1>And now you know that the first successful open heart

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<v Speaker 1>surgery was performed by a black doctor who was discriminated against.