born Jan. 18, 1858, Hollidaysburg, Pa., U.S.
died Aug. 4, 1931, Idlewild, Mich.
U.S. surgeon.
He graduated from Chicago Medical College. In 1891 he founded Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first interracial hospital in the U.S., to provide training for black interns and nurses. There in 1893 he performed the first successful heart surgery; the patient lived at least 20 years after Williams opened the thoracic cavity, sutured a wound of the pericardium (the sac around the heart), and closed the chest. In 1913 he became the only black charter member of the American College of Surgeons.