On July 10, 1893, trailblazing physician Daniel Hale Williams
successfully performed one of the world’s first open-heart
surgeries at Provident Hospital in Chicago. Not only is he a
pioneer of the procedure; he is one of just three African
American physicians practicing in Chicago at a time when
many white-run hospitals refused to treat Black patients—
much less hire Black doctors.

Born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania on January 18, 1856,
Williams worked as a shoemaker’s apprentice and a barber
before graduating from Chicago Medical College in 1883.

Dr. Williams opened Provident Hospital in Chicago,
Illinois, which is known to be the first Black-owned
hospital in the nation.