Guide to the William M. Watts Papers
Sean Heyliger
African American Museum and Library at Oakland
659 14th Street
Oakland, California 94612
Phone: (510) 637-0198
Fax: (510) 637-0204
Email: aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org
URL: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/locations/african-american-museum-library-oakland
© 2013
African American Museum and Library at Oakland. All rights reserved.
Guide to the William M. Watts Papers
Collection number: MS 37
African American Museum and Library at Oakland
Oakland, California
- Processed by:
- Sean Heyliger
- Date Completed:
- 05/15/2013
- Encoded by:
- Sean Heyliger
© 2013 African American Museum and Library at Oakland. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: William M. Watts papers
Dates: circa 1910s-1980
Collection number: MS 37
Creator:
Watts, William M., Dr.
Collection Size:
.5 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Abstract: William M. Watts (1885-1980) was born on February 15, 1885 in Lodi, Texas to Perry and Jane Watts. After earning a medical
degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, Watts practiced medicine at hospitals in Houston, Texas and Fresno,
California before opening the first hospital for African Americans in Oakland, California in 1926 at 3437 Harlan Street in
North Oakland. The William M. Watts papers include photographs, patient and account ledger, license applications, newspapers
clippings, funeral program, and one edition of the
Jackson County Medical Journal.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Access Restrictions
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Publication Rights
Permission to publish from the William M. Watts Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.
Preferred Citation
William M. Watts papers, MS 37, African American Museum and Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Acquisition Information
Donated to the Northern California Center for Afro-American History & Life by Katie Mae Watts and Marjorie Caffee, 1992.
Processing Information
Processed by Sean Heyliger, 05/15/2013.
Biography / Administrative History
William M. Watts (1885-1980) was born on February 15, 1885 in Lodi, Texas to Perry and Jane Watts. After earning a medical
degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, Watts practiced medicine at hospitals in Houston, Texas and Fresno,
California before opening the first hospital for African Americans in Oakland, California in 1926 at 3437 Harlan Street in
North Oakland. While in Oakland, Watts contributed to Western American, a local African American newspaper, the medical advice
column “How to Keep Well.” The hospital closed due to financial troubles in 1927, and Watts returned to Marshall, Texas to
operate the Sheppard-Watts Hospital following the death of his brother. Watts continued to practice as a physician until his
retirement in the late 1960s.
Scope and Content of Collection
The William M. Watts papers include photographs, patient ledger, license applications, newspapers clippings, funeral program,
and one edition of the
Jackson County Medical Journal. The bulk of the papers are 25 photographs of Dr. William M. Watts; portraits and social events of Watts' friends and family;
group photographs taken of staff outside of Watts’ hospitals in Oakland, California, Houston, Texas, and Marshall, Texas in
the 1910-1920s; and exterior photographs of the church in Lodi, Texas where Watts' was a pastor.
The papers also include a 600 page patient and account ledger kept for Watts Sanitarium in Houston, Texas and Sheppards-Watts
Hospital in Marshall, Texas. The ledger includes patients' names and addresses, brief descriptions of ailments and treatments
performed by Dr. Watts, and charges paid for medical services. The ledger also includes an account ledger of the sanitarium's
costs for automobile maintenance, nurses' salaries, and laundry service.
Arrangement
Series I. Photographs
Series II. Patient and accounts ledger
Series III. Assorted printed material
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Watts, William M., Dr.
African American physicians.
African Americans--Hospitals--History.
Oakland (Calif.)--History--20th century.
Lodi (Tex.)
Separated Material
Three medical textbooks were removed and added to the African American Museum and Library at Oakland's library collection:
Bacteriology and surgical technic for nurses/Emily M A Stoney; Frederic Richardson Griffith; A manual of physical diagnosis/O'Reilly,
1911; Manual of operative surgery/John Fairbairn Binnie.
Photographs
Physical Description: 25 photographs
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes portraits and photographs of Dr. William M. Watts, his wife Maggie Watts, and family and friends in Oakland, California
and Lodi, Texas. Also includes group photographs of doctors and nurses standing outside of Watts' hospital in Oakland, California
and Sheppard-Watts Hospital in Marshall, Texas.
Arrangement
Arranged by photograph identification number.
Box 1:1
Portrait of William Watts [001]
circa 1910s
Box 1:1
Group of men standing at church altar [002]
undated
Box 1:1
William Watts standing next to car, California [003]
circa 1920s
Box 1:1
Maggie Watts driving car, California [004]
circa 1920s
Box 1:1
William Watts and Mae Frances Bousley in living room, Lodi, Texas [005]
1970
Box 1:1
William Watts sitting in chair next to Christmas tree, Lodi, Texas [006]
1970
Box 1:1
William Watts sitting on front fender of car, California [007]
circa 1920s
Box 1:1
William Watts and Mae Frances Bousley standing next to Christmas tree [008]
circa 1970s
Box 1:1
William Watts in clerical collar [009]
undated
Box 1:1
Portrait of Nancy Jane Runnels Watts, mother of William Watts [010]
undated
Box 1:1
Two men walking outside of church, Lodi, Texas [011]
undated
Box 1:1
James R. Sheppard and four nurses standing outside of hospital [012]
circa 1920s
Box 1:1
Portrait of Frances A. Watts Kemper, sister of William Watts [013]
undated
Box 1:1
Portrait of Rosa L. Watts Jones, sister of William Watts [014]
undated
Box 1:1
Exterior of William Watts’ house, Lodi, California [015]
1980
Box 1:1
Herman Bousley and William Watts standing out of C.M.E. church, Lodi, Texas [016]
1974
Box 1:1
Portrait of Maggie Watts [017]
circa 1920s
Box 1:1
William Watts standing outside of Sheppard-Watts hospital, Marshall, Texas [018]
undated
Box 1:2
Herman Bousley and William Watts standing out of C.M.E. church, Lodi, Texas [019]
1974
Box 1:2
Exterior of the Sheppard-Watts hospital, Marshall, Texas [020]
1961
Box 1:2
Maggie Watts and Frances Watts Kemper sitting in front of Dr. William Watts’ office, Houston, Texas [021]
undated
Box 1:2
Portrait of William M. Watts [022]
undated
Box 1:2
Portrait of William M. Watts [023]
undated
Box 1:2
Seven men and a nurse standing on the porch of Watts’ Sanitariam [sic] [024]
circa 1910s
Box 1:2
Dr. William Watts and three nurses standing in front of W.M. Watts' Private Hospital, Oakland, California [025]
circa 1920s
Box 2
Patient and accounts ledger [600 pp.]
1918-1969
Assorted printed material
Physical Description: 6 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes photocopies of Dr. William M. Watts' Texas State Board of Medical Examiners license, a Board of Examiners of the
State of California delinquent license form, newspaper clippings related to Watts' hospital in Oakland, and a funeral program
from his funeral service.
Arrangement
Arranged by format.
Box 1:3
Newspaper clippings
undated
Box 1:5
Board of Examiners of the State of California delinquent license form
1943
Box 1:6
Texas State Board of Medical Examiners license
1921
Box 1:7
Sheppard Memorial Hospital, Laura Whitaker's courses studied
undated
Box 1:7
Jackson County Medical Journal, Vol. XXVI, No. 41
1932
