Dr. William H. Marshall

William H. Marshall 1880 United States Federal Census, Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina, USA. 

Emmanuel Baptist Church choir, with Revered W.E.W. Brown (top center) from Indianola, Mississippi, & (also, top row-) Raymond Wright, Neal Harris & Leon Peterson & (standing, far right, right to left) Robert Guyton, Ocie Peterson, William Marshall, MD (also included are Sadie Bell & Annie Harris). Source: Beloit Public Library Edgewater Flats Gallery

William Marshall's entry in the 1940 census. Beloit, WI, USA.

Dr. William H. Marshall was one of the first Black doctors in Beloit in 1920. Born in South Carolina in 1872, Marshall graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1903. Dr. Marshall made many contributions to the Black Community of Beloit. If Dr. Marshall received a patient he was unable to treat, he would send him or her to Madison. He was also very encouraging towards girls who wished to go into nursing. However, due to discrimination within the hospital system, when asked if he would ever be allowed on the hospital staff, Dr. Marshall replied he would not accept if they offered.

As a result, Dr. Marshall set up his own private practice in Beloit and, at one point, served as the African American community’s only physician. Dr. Marshall’s private practice was located at 449 St. Paul Ave, right on the edge of downtown Beloit. Dr. Marshall was also active within the community, participating in the Emmanuel Baptist Church choir and singing as the tenor in a small group called the Imperial Mixed Quartet with prominent Baptist Minister W.W. Brown. Dr. Marshall passed away on June 12, 1956 and is buried in Eastlawn Cemetery in Beloit.