William Anderson, DO, a physician and Civil Rights leader who organized the Albany Movement, died Aug. 16 at age 98.
Dr. Anderson trained at Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine in West Des Moines, Iowa, and later built a family medicine practice in Albany, Ga. There, he emerged as the leader of the Albany Movement, one of the first large-scale campaigns against segregation during the Civil Rights era, working alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy, according to an Aug. 18 news release from the American Osteopathic Association. He later became Detroit’s first Black surgery resident. He also established his own surgical practice while teaching at Michigan State University’s osteopathic medicine college in East Lansing.
Dr. Anderson served as the American Osteopathic Association’s first Black president from 1994 to 1995 and sat on its board for 20 years. In 1998, he established a scholarship fund to support minority students; the fund now awards up to 25 scholarships of $10,000 each annually, the release said.
AOA President Richard Thacker, DO, credited Dr. Anderson with helping build the profession’s culture.
“Our profession is so very proud of Dr. Anderson and all that he accomplished in his incredible life, from spearheading the Albany Movement during the Civil Rights Movement to becoming an accomplished and respected surgeon,” Dr. Thacker said in the release. “With his gripping autobiographies and the American Osteopathic Foundation scholarship fund he established, Dr. Anderson’s indelible mark on the osteopathic medical profession will live on for generations to come.”
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