Williams, John R., 1874-1965.

John Ralston Williams was a Rochester physician for 50 years, and Chief of Medicine at Highland Hospital for 30 years.

He was born on December 27, 1874 in a log cabin in Renfrew, Ontario. In 1884, the Williams family migrated to Rochester, N.Y. Dr. Williams attended the University of Michigan Medical School and graduated in 1903. After medical school, he returned to Rochester, where he married Ethel M. Rafter in 1904.

In the early 1900s, Dr. Williams conducted two social and economic investigations that ultimately impacted life in every modern household. The first had to do with the importance of a clean and safe milk supply. The second was a study of preserving food in homes, resulting in greatly improved refrigeration standards. Dr. Williams's survey of 7000 homes showed that not one had food storage facilities efficient enough to keep germs from multiplying. The U.S. Navy ordered its ships to adopt the food storage standards that Dr. Williams set. Dr. Williams's studies also prompted General Electric and General Motors to begin experimenting with mechanical refrigeration. They and the U.S. Department of Agriculture credited his work as basic to the development of home refrigeration.

Dr. Williams established the first complete unit in the United States for the study of metabolic diseases, chiefly diabetes, at Hahnemann Homeopathic Hospital (later Highland Hospital) in 1916. He was working with the medical school in Toronto when Frederick Grant Banting gave insulin to patients in 1921. In May 1922, Dr. Williams became the first physician in the United States to administer insulin to patients.

Dr. Williams retired from active practice in 1949. He was president of the Rochester Museum Association, active in the First Unitarian Church, and was responsible for the landscaping of Oak Hill Country Club; he supervised the planting of more than 300 memorial trees at the club. Dr. William died on December 27, 1965, his 91st birthday, at Highland Hospital. In 1982, funds were donated to construct the John R. Williams Sr. Health Sciences Library at Highland Hospital.

From the description of John R. Williams papers, 1916-1986 (bulk 1921-1958). (New York State Historical Documents). WorldCat record id: 155407403