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DR. WILLIAM WORTHY : 1910 - 1915 ORIGINAL, SIGNIFICANT MANUSCRIPT LEDGER BOOKS [2] DETAILING A BUSY URBAN OBSTETRICS PRACTICE HANDWRITTEN BY THE NOTED AFRICAN AMERICAN PHYSICIAN, ACTIVIST AND FATHER OF A ONE DAY HIGH PROFILE CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST IN EARLY 20th CENTURY ROXBURY

4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. On offer is a detailed and fascinating record of a busy physicians practice in the early 20th century. Comprised of 2 volumes, they measure 12 inches by 8.5 inches and contain 220 pages each. They are about 95% complete. The hardboard covers are worn but intact and all pages are secured. Along with the record books, are a number of prescription forms on which he has made notes. Dr. William Worthy was born in 1878 in Georgia and died in 1954 in Boston, MA. He was a black American who established a very successful obstetrics practice in Roxbury, a neighbourhood in Boston. The city states that Roxbury serves as the "heart of Black culture in Boston. Although the center of the African-American community in Boston today, in Worthy's day, it was a more multi-ethinc community with a large German and Jewish population. In 1929, Worthy, along with Dr. WO Taylor, led the drive to get 2 black high school graduates into the nurses training program at Boston City Hospital. This in turn caused the hospital to integrate its remaining training programs. The volumes are titled Physicians Day Book and Journal. They cover the time period from May 1910 to May 1919. They provide a detailed record of patient's visits as well as a record for billings for each. In each volume there is also an Obstetric Record section where some additional notes are made for patients. Also of interest is that he notes the nationality of each patient. He has a busy practice. While he does not record details of general visits, he does note details of deliveries: "Case No: 34 13 18 Name: Alice Grant Irene Forde Editha Bennett Age: 15 35 Country: US US WI (West Indies) Pregnancies: 1 10 1 Abnormal Symptons: None None None Date of Labor: 1-21-18 9-7-16 5-6-13 Length (Hrs) 18 1 11 (forceps delivery) # of Children: 1 1 1 Sex: Male Male Male Weight: 7 lbs Still Born 71/2". His practice was financially successful as well. His monthly earnings ranged roughly between $100.00 to $400.00 - this at a time when the U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that an average monthly wage was about $57.00. Of note is his son, William Worthy Jr. Worthy Jr. grew up to become a highly respected African American journalist and civil rights activist. He was involved in several high-profile constitutional challenges, which he won. In one of those cases, he was represented by the famed, William Kunstler who was just beginning his outstanding career as a civil rights lawyer. This is an outstanding record of medical work in urban America in the early years of the 20th century. This is quite valuable to urban or medical historians looking at medical utilization in a working class neighbourhood in the early 20th century.. Illustr.: /. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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