Williams, J. Whitridge (John Whitridge), 1866-1931

John Whitridge Williams was born on January 26, 1866, in Baltimore, Maryland.

He was a pioneering obstetrician and author. He graduated from the Johns Hopkins University (B.A., 1886) and University of Maryland School of Medicine (M.D., 1888). He continued his studies in bacteriology and pathology at universities in Vienna and Berlin. Returning to Baltimore in 1889, he joined the newly opened gynaecological‐obstetric department at Johns Hopkins Hospital as a voluntary assistant, helping in both the clinical and pathology departments. In 1892, he was admitted to the American Gynecological Society and in 1893, he was appointed Associate Professor of Midwifery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1894–1895, he again went abroad, studying obstetrics and pathology in Leipzig, Prague, and Paris. Back at Johns Hopkins in 1899, he was promoted to Professor in Obstetrics and obstetrician‐in‐chief at the hospital. In 1903, Williams published his textbook “Obstetrics.” This beautifully illustrated work included some 1100 references from the European literature, mainly from Germany, Austria, and France. The textbook, regarded as a classic, passed through six editions during his lifetime. He also published numerous articles in various medical journals. Williams received honorary degrees from the University of Dublin (ScD., 1912) and the University of Pittsburgh (LL. D, 1915). He also served as honorary president of the Glasgow Gynaecological and Obstetric Society in 1911–12; he presided over the American Gynecological Society in 1914–15, the American Association for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality in 1914–16, and the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland in 1915–16. On the day of his funeral, one of the first Honorary Fellowships granted by the British College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology was conferred on him.

In 1891, he married Margaretta Steward Browne (1865–1929), and in 1930, he remarried Caroline Theobald Pennington, his long-timed valued laboratory assistant. He died on October 21, 1931, in Baltimore, Maryland.