Daniel Hale Williams / Williams House

Despite prevailing racial discrimination during the early twentieth century, Daniel Hale Williams, an African American, was a leading Chicago surgeon. In 1891 he founded Provident Hospital as a training hospital for black nurses and doctors. Three years later U.S. president Grover Cleveland named him surgeon-in-chief of Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, DC. An auditorium and atrium at Northwestern University’s medical school bear Williams’ name. Williams House Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (1858-1931) and his wife, Alice (1866-1924), were among Idlewild’s earliest residents. Williams’ stature as a leading Chicago physician encouraged other black professionals to spend leisure time here. The Williamses built this cottage, Oakmere, with its laboratory around 1920. When “Dr. Dan” died at Oakmere in 1931 all activities in Idlewild were canceled for the day. Williams left much of his estate to the NAACP and to hospitals and medical schools.