28 Oct Providence and serendipity: Reality of woman’s dream earns recognition 100 years later Cover of book by Steve Williams to promote the initiative to honor Florence Williams and her work to establish and run a hospital in Georgetown. A new historic endeavor on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast aims to honor the legacy of Florence Williams, a pioneering Black woman who, 100 years ago, established and operated the only hospital in Georgetown County. The goal of the initiative, which is being spearheaded by the Georgetown County Diabetes Core Group, is to erect an official South Carolina Historical Market at 1014 Duke St. in Georgetown, once the site of the Florence Williams Hospital. The plan is to also provide scholarships to deserving high school students who wish to pursue careers in nursing and healthcare. It was in 1926 – and following a profound spiritual vision Williams has experienced – that her spacious home was transformed into a house of healing – not just for her fellow Black residents in a still-segregated South but for all people, regardless of race. Healthcare history in Georgetown At the time, it was only the third hospital in the history of Georgetown, which was established in 1729. Williams’ facility would go on to operate as the city’s only hospital until 1954, four years after Georgetown Memorial Hospital (now Tidelands Health Georgetown Memorial Hospital) was established. Starting with just one bed, Williams’ compassionate efforts soon grew into a 25-bed hospital, complete with two maternity wards, an operating room, and a training center for future nurses. Prominent local doctors saw patients and performed surgeries at the facility. Before Williams opened the hospital, she had worked as a midwife and practical nurse. At the time, the closest hospitals to Georgetown were in Charleston, to the south, or Florence, to the north, requiring lengthy drives when few roads were paved and few bridges existed. In a new book promoting the initiative, Georgetown historian and author Steve Williams called Florence Williams a “woman of visions, dreams and compassion.” Florence Williams says she was directed by a man in a dream to care for people in a hospital she would establish in her own home in Georgetown. Florence Williams’ legacy in Georgetown In January 1937, The Georgetown Times proudly promoted Williams in an article headlined “Vision Awoke Florence Williams to Her Life’s Work – a Hospital in Georgetown.” The newspaper documented Florence Williams’ life – and how healthcare in the city of Georgetown was transformed because of the dream she once had and earned a directive from a “Shadow Man.” “There is probably no more unselfish or worthy project being carried on in Georgetown,” the newspaper reported, “than that by Florence Williams in what is known as the Florence Williams Hospital.” The newspaper also noted that Williams’ success came about quite literally because of her prophetic dream. It was while Williams was studying nursing that she “had the dream.” A “Shadow Man,” Williams would recount when asked how she came to run a hospital, came to her in a dream and spoke “so unmistakably to her.” In the dream, Florence was walking down Church Street and then down to King Street. She was carrying a large bundle of sheets. From there, she entered the home of Mrs. E.E. Watts, where, sitting at a desk, a large white man revealed three hospital cots. Two were empty but on one cot lay a man. As Florence entered that room, the Shadow Man said to her: “There is great work for you to do, but you can’t do it unless I help you. Always put me as head, and I will help you do it.” The words were spoken three times before the man faded away. Providence and Serendipity Williams continued to ponder on the dream and the man’s enigmatic directive, but it was a chance meeting with Dr. F.A. Bell that would change everything. Dr. Bell told Williams that Dr. H.D. Beckman had a very ill patient, a “colored boy with lockjaw,” and that he had suggested to Dr. Beckman that Williams, since she was a nurse and had plenty of room in her home, might care for the boy. So that serendipitous recommendation by Dr. Bell to care for a sick boy in her home is how Williams established what would become her eponymous hospital. When the article was published in The Georgetown Times, Williams’ hospital had been opened for nearly 11 years and had grown from one to 15 beds and had cared for 384 “colored” and 34 white patients maintaining a record of never having had a death from an operation. Though the years, Dr. Bell, Dr. P.E. Assey, Dr. John Assey, and Dr. U.G. Teele performed surgeries and/or periodic calls to Williams’ patients. A young Florence Williams was trained as a nurse. Extraordinary life recognized Many years later, when Williams died in New York at the age of 81, The Georgetown Times published another article, detailing the extraordinary efforts of “the founder of the only hospital serving Georgetown during the Depression.” In the article, the Times reported that Dr. Bell once described Williams’ hospital “as magnificent work for the needy,” as anyone was admitted, regardless of ability to pay. The newspaper – and Steve Williams’ book, too – noted that Williams received financial assistance from the likes of local millionaires Bernard Baruch, who established Hobcaw Barony just north of Georgetown, and Archer Huntington, who founded Brookgreen Gardens with his wife, Anna, in Murrells Inlet. Local churches, including Bethel AME Church and Duncan Memorial Church, assisted by providing canned goods, groceries and fresh vegetables for patient meals. The new initiative to recognize Florence Williams and her hospital seeks to raise as much as $25,000 to carry out its goals and to establish ongoing scholarships for students at all of Georgetown County’s high schools. The memorial monument was officially approved by the state of South Carolina March 19, 2026. Now funds must be raised for the marker. Several sponsorship levels have been established for community members or businesses to assist – ranging from $50 to $1,000. Steve Williams, speaking as a historian and a community member, summed up the initiative succinctly: “Some legacies are never properly honored. Now we have the chance to change that.” There are various ways to donate, including by clicking here to a GoFundMe account. For more information, call Steve Williams at 864-346-0749 or Renee Brown at 678-275-0951By Mark A. Stevens / director of tourism development for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce and South Carolina’s Hammock Coast® 0 Hammock-All
