William Augustus Hinton
| William Augustus Hinton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 15, 1883 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | August 8, 1959 (aged 75) Canton, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Bacteriologist |
| Known for | Harvard Medical School Professor |
William Augustus Hinton (15 December 1883, Chicago, Illinois – 1959, Canton, Massachusetts) was an American bacteriologist, pathologist and educator. He was the first black professor in the history of Harvard University. A pioneer in the field of public health, Hinton developed a test for syphilis which, because of its accuracy, was used by the United States Public Health Service.
William Augustus Hinton was born in Chicago to Augustus Hinton and Maria Clark, both former slaves. Hinton grew up in Kansas. After high school, he studied at the University of Kansas before transferring to Harvard University, where he earned a B.S. degree in 1905. Following his graduation, he taught in Tennessee and Oklahoma. During the summers he continued his studies in bacteriology and physiology at the University of Chicago. In 1909, he enrolled in Harvard Medical School and was offered a scholarship reserved for African American students, which he declined. Instead, he competed for and won the prestigious Wigglesworth and Hayden scholarships two years in a row, a scholarship open to all Harvard students. He graduated with honors in 1912 after only 3 years.
Denied a medical internship due to his race, Hinton worked as a "voluntary assistant" in the Pathology Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1913-1915. It was in this position that he became an expert in syphilis, publishing his first paper along with Roger I. Lee. Gaining the respect of his colleagues, he was invited to write a chapter in a leading textbook, Preventive Medicine and Hygiene. In 1915 he was awarded the dual appointments of Director of the Laboratory Department of the Boston Dispensary and Chief of the Wasserman Laboratory of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, staying at the latter position until his retirement in 1953. Under his supervision, the number of approved laboratories grew from 10 to 117. In 1975, the Massachusetts legislature made what had become known as the "Hinton Laboratory" in the scientific community official, passing a bill to rename the state laboratory the "Dr. William A. Hinton Laboratory."
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