William Gilchrist Anderson

1927–

Physician, educator

While many people preach to do your best and be your best, very few actually achieve these lofty goals. Dr. William Gilchrist Anderson is among the few who have. During the height of the Jim Crow era, he pushed open doors that were previously closed to black doctors at certain hospitals. His work for the civil rights movement in southwest Georgia captured the attention of the nation and brought the help of Anderson's friends: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Anderson has dedicated his career to pioneering work in osteopathic medicine and continued commitment to opening his profession to minorities. As the first African American to head the American Osteopathic Association, Anderson led by example. Opening the 2005 United Osteopathic Convention, Anderson stated in his speech posted on the American Osteopathic Association Web site, "We need to continue the initiative, dedication, commitment and humanism of those before us in osteopathic medicine, and continue the principles of not just treating symptoms, but treating the whole person."

Became Friends with Dr. King

William Gilchrist Anderson was born on December 12, 1927, in Americus, Georgia. His parents were John D. Sr., and Emma Gilchrist Anderson. He was born during the Jim Crow era, when laws separated blacks and whites. There were separate water fountains, restrooms, and schools. Among the indignities of the laws at the time were limiting rules that forced blacks to purchase food from the back door of restaurants; allowed them to sit in the back of buses but forced them to stand if a white person requested a seat; and restricted them to the balcony seats of movie theaters from which they were forced to exit out the back door. Though in theory the separate facilities were equal, in practice they were not. Most schools for blacks, for example, were run down and in desperate need of new books and supplies. Anderson experienced the difficulties of growing up during this stressful time for blacks, when blacks ran the risk of being beaten; having their homes or businesses torched; or worse, lynched if they offended a white person.

Despite the hardships in his life, Anderson set his sights on success. He attended the Alabama State College for Negroes, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1949. During this time he met and married Norma Lee Dixon. The Dixon family was close friends of the King Family. Norma's brother, James, was close to Martin Luther King, Jr., who would become the leader of the civil rights movement. King frequently visited with the Dixons. Anderson heard King practicing his sermons, and they became friends while King was a senior in high school. The two shared a desire to help people. For his part, Anderson decided to enter medicine.

Co-Founded Albany Movement

Anderson received his medical training at the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences, in Des Moines, Iowa. He also earned certification in general surgery. He held an internship at the Flint Osteopathic Hospital, in Flint, Michigan. During his internship, Anderson grew increasingly frustrated that he could not treat white patients, and fought and won the right to do so. After completing his internship, he returned to Albany, Georgia, where he opened his own practice. While many doctors had offices but were given hospital privileges, most black physicians were relegated to black hospitals, or if there was not one in the vicinity, had no hospital privileges at all. In Albany Anderson had no hospital privileges because of his color, so he had to perform any needed surgeries in his office.

With the many injustices going on in Albany and the surrounding counties, Anderson joined the Criterion Club. The club petitioned the city government to form a biracial commission to begin the process of desegregation. The request was met with resistance. However, the group was not deterred. Soon others pushing for civil rights joined them; Charles Sherrod, Cordell Reagon, and Charles Jones—members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)—began approaching black residents in the area to hold voter registration drives. While many avoided the three SNCC members, young people responded to them.

The SNCC, the Criterion Club, and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and other groups banded together and formed the Albany Movement. Anderson, who was fairly new to organizing—though he had started an NAACP chapter at Morehouse College with King during a short time when he lived in Atlanta—was elected as the movement's president. With their new organization formed, the members rallied for real change.

Students Challenged Status Quo

In November of 1961, the federal Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ruled that all of the interstate transportation facilities be desegregated. That same day, nine students tested the waters by entering the whites only waiting area of Albany's Trailways bus station. When the police arrived, they left the area peacefully. They also filed affidavits with the ICC.

At a Glance …

Born on December 12, 1927, in Americus, GA; son of John D., Sr. and Emma Gilchrist Anderson; married Norma Lee Dixon, November 23, 1946; children: five. Education: Alabama State College for Negroes, BS, 1949; University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Services, Des Moines, IA, DO, 1956; certification in general surgery. Military service: US Navy, petty officer, 1944–46.

Career: Art Center Clinical Group, staff surgeon, 1967–71; Zieger Clinical Group, attending surgeon, 1971–74; Detroit Surgical Association, senior attending surgeon, consultant, 1974–84; MI Healthcare Corporation, executive vice president/chief medical officer, 1984–86; Detroit Osteopathic Hospital, director, government affairs, 1986–92; Detroit Riverview Hospital, director of medical education, 1992–; Kirks-ville College of Osteopathic Medicine, associate dean, 1996–; Detroit Osteopathic and Riverview Hospital, physician, educator.

Memberships: YMCA, board of directors, 1970–; Wayne County Osteopathic Association, director, 1968–, president, 1977, executive director, 1993–; MI Association of Osteopathic Physicians, director, 1975–, president, 1981; American Osteopathic Association, delegate, 1980–, trustee, 1981–, president, 1994–95.

Awards: Michigan State University, Walter F. Patenge Medal of Public Service Award, 1982; Ohio University, Phillips Meritorious Service Award, 1986, Doctor of Humane Letters, 1990; West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Science, 1993; University of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Humane Letters, 1994; American Osteopathic Association, Dale Dodson Award, 2001.

Addresses: Home—Southfield, MI. Office—Detroit Riverview Hospital, 7733 E. Jefferson, Detroit, MI 48214-2598.

On November 22, 1961, which also was Thanksgiving Day, high school students, members of the SNCC, and several students from Albany State College, entered several of the whites only areas at the Trailways station, including the lunch counter. When the police arrived, all were arrested. The next day, 300 students protested their arrest and jail terms.

On November 25th, the Albany Movement held their first meeting. Their first march as a group was held on November 27th to protest Albany State College students Bertha Gobel's and Blanton Hall's expulsion from the college. Anderson led the way, and according to Weary Feet, Rested Souls, told the police officer, "If you strike anyone in this line, strike me first." Many were arrested that day, and supporters of the movement urged Anderson to contact King for help in continuing their struggle.

Asked King to Join Demonstrations

When King arrived in December of 1961, he thought he would give a speech, but he joined the movement's next march, and with Anderson by his side, was arrested. By mid-December more than 500 demonstrators had been taken into custody. Nevertheless, the activists continued to push for change. The Albany movement tried everything the civil rights movement came to be known for: sit-ins, marches, voter registration drives, boycotts, lawsuits, and pleas for help from Washington.

At each turn the movement supporters and King, who had brought in his newly formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), were met with a formidable foe in Police Chief Laurie Pritchett. With each new march, more were arrested. Though he ran out of jail space, Pritchett would just shuffle the demonstrators to other jails in the surrounding counties, where many were beaten or underfed.

Appeared on Meet The Press

The protests and boycotts continued well into 1962. During this time, as more protests were held, King was scheduled to appear on the Meet The Press television news program. He was in jail, and Anderson appeared in his place. His appearance turned the nation's attention to Albany. A friend of Albany Mayor Asa Kelley anonymously paid King's and Abernathy's fines, and they were released.

Federal Judge Robert Ellison issued an injunction forbidding further marches. While King decided against another march, other black demonstrators held one. When demonstrators learned that the pregnant wife of Slater King, who was the vice president of the Albany Movement, had been kicked when she brought food to jailed demonstrators, another march was held. This time, the police were peppered with rocks and the march turned violent.

King called for a moratorium on marches, and left Albany soon after. Though he considered his involvement a failure, many in Albany felt differently. Charles Sherrod, who later became Albany city commissioner, told the Albany Herald, "Now I can't help how Dr. King might have felt, or … any of the rest of them in SCLC, NAACP, CORE, any of the groups, but as far as we were concerned, things moved on. We didn't skip one beat." Anderson stayed on and continued the fight.

Opened Group Practice in Detroit

Albany did remove all segregation statutes on the books in 1963, but not before Anderson was arrested and convicted on federal charges of juror intimidation and perjury, because of protests against a local white business owner who had acquitted a county sheriff of murder of a demonstrator. However, due to the many threats to his family and himself, Anderson moved to Detroit. He took a residency position at the Art Center Clinical Group. He then opened a group practice where he treated patients until 1984. He continued to make strides in his profession, even becoming the first African American president of the American Osteopathic Association.

Anderson later would focus his attention on helping others become doctors of osteopathy by developing educational programs for the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and Detroit Riverview Hospital. He joined numerous organizations, and sat on several boards. He has been honored by every major organization in his profession and has received several honorary doctorates. Posted on the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) website, Barbara Ross-Lee, DO, who introduced Anderson at the AACOM luncheon where he was presented with the Dale Dodson Award, stated that Anderson "has focused not only on improving the health of his individual patients, but on improving the health of the society in which his patients live." In addition to his commitment to his profession and the rights of his people, Anderson also co-authored a book with his wife, Autobiographies of a Black Couple of the Greatest Generation. His commitment to his profession and to the lives of minorities has been honored with the 2001 creation of the William G. Anderson Minority Scholarship at the American Osteopathic Foundation.

Selected works

Autobiographies of a Black Couple of the Greatest Generation, Michigan Osteopathic Association, 2004.

Sources

Books

Davis, Townsend. Weary Feet, Rested Souls, A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement, W.W. Norton & Company, 1998, pp. 162-176.

Who's Who Among African Americans, 18th Edition, Thomson Gale, 2005.

Periodicals

Albany Herald, November 15, 1998, supplement.

On-line

"Albany, A Major Part in Fight for Civil Rights," The Student Voice, Albany State College, http://www.asustudentvoice.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/02/07/43e8c133c5f34 (accessed March 15, 2006).

"Anderson to Open 2005 Unified Osteopathic Convention," DO-online.org, http://www.do-online.osteotech.org/virtual_convention.cfm?PageID=conv_05_nwsandersonopen (accessed February 1, 2006).

"Dodson Award Presentation," American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, http://www.aacom.org/events/award-lunch/speech-anderson.html (February 1, 2006).

"William G. Anderson," Kellogg African American Health Care Project, http://www.med.umich.edu/haahc/Oralbios/anderson.htm (accessed February 1, 2006).

"William G. Anderson I, D.O., FACOS," Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, http://www.kcom.edu/academia/Fac-Staff/Anderson-W.htm (accessed February 1, 2006).

"William G. Anderson Receives Honorary Doctorate," The Communicator: The Newsletter of the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, http://www.une.edu/com/rsas/newsletter/ian06.html (accessed February 1, 2006).

"William Gilchrist Anderson," Biography Resource Center, http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed February 1, 2006).