Ulysses Grant Dailey facts for kids
Ulysses Grant Dailey (1885–1961) was an American surgeon, writer, and teacher. He was one of the first African Americans recognized in the field of medicine in the United States. In 1949, the House of Delegates of the National Medical Association awarded him with the Distinguished Service Award.
Biography
Dailey was born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on August 3, 1885 to S. Toney Hanna Dailey, a bartender, and Missouri (nee Johnson) Dailey, an educator.
He attended Straight College’s preparatory academy (later Dillard University) in New Orleans and Fort Worth (Texas) High School.
In 1902 Dailey entered Northwestern University Medical School. He was the youngest of the 150 students in his class. He obtained his degree in Medicine in 1906, graduating fifth.
Medical career
Despite the prejudice Daily experienced from the faculty at Northwestern early in his career, he served as assistant demonstrator of anatomy from 1906–1908.
In 1908, Daniel Hale Williams, a notable black surgeon, hired Dailey as his assistant at Provident Hospital where he assisted Williams in surgical procedures. Dailey also headed lectures and produced papers during his tenure at Provident, including writing a number of articles on surgery.
The same year he joined the National Medical Association (the black counterpart of the American Medical Association) and remained an active member for 53 years.
From 1915 to 1916, he was a fellow of the International College of Surgeons. He served as chairman of the Surgical Section in 1914, served as president of the National Medical Association in 1915-1916, becoming its youngest president up to that time and the first from Chicago.
After serving as instructor in anatomy and physiology, Dailey was promoted to associate surgeon at Provident Hospital in 1909 and held that position until 1917. Despite his growing status in the medical community, Dailey grew frustrated of what he believed to be racial and political barriers at Provident, and established the Dailey Hospital and Sanitarium in Chicago in 1926.
During the Depression, Dailey Hospital and Sanitarium began to face financial difficulties. Dr. Dailey had to close it in 1932.
He was a senior attending surgeon at Provident Hospital in Chicago, Illinois from 1933 to 1952.
He received assignments from the Department Statement and was assigned to India, Sri Lanka, and Africa from 1952 to 1953.
Personal life
In 1916, Dailey married Eleanor Jane Curtis, sister of Dr. Austin M. Curtis of Washington, D.C., a renowned surgeon and president of the National Medical Association. In 1924, the couple adopted 5-year-old twins, Eleanor Jane and Ulysses Grant, Jr.
Later yers and death
Dailey retired from his position as chief of surgical staff at Provident Hospital in 1952. He ended active practice in 1956.
He and Eleanor relocated to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Dailey had served as Haiti’s honorary consul in Chicago for several years.
When Dailey’s health began to deteriorate, they returned to Chicago. He died there on April 22, 1961, at the age of 76.
Legacy and honors
- Distinguished Service Award of the National Medical Association (1949)
Dailey also wrote and edited artiles on medical issues. He was an associate editor and editor for the Journal of the National Medical Association. He also wrote some articles The American Journal of Digestive Diseases, The New York Journal of Surgery, Journal of International College of Surgeons , Journal of the National Medical Association Indiana State Medical Association Journal, Surgical Clinics of North America and The Medicus, and others.
