ABSTRACT
The 19th century was difficult for African-Americans seeking a medical education since few schools admitted black students, and the public, including many black patients, had doubts about their capabilities as well. Abraham Flexner in his report on medical educa tion in America in 1910 agreed and stated that “The medical care of the negro race will never be left wholly to negro physicians”.1 This brief study outlines the life and achievements of the man described by his biographer as the “Moses to Negro Medicine”.2 Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1856, and on the death of his father moved to Baltimore, where he became a barber. He later lived with Harvey Anderson, a barber of modest means in Janesville, Wisconsin, who befriended him as he sought an education.23 Williams attended public schools and the Janesville Academy with Anderson’s support and by working as well.
