HENRY WILLIAMS HOWARD

He was educated at Mount Sharon Academy and at Rush Medical College from which he graduated in 1890. Almost immediately Dr. Howard was appointed clinical instructor in diseases of the eye and ear at his Alma Mater. He also engaged in private practice in Chicago for three years.

In may, 1893, Dr. Howard arrived in the Islands, accompanied by his wife, to accept the position of government physician at Kapaa, Kauai. A few months later he came to Honolulu to substitute during the absence of Dr. Henri McGrew, Dispensary Physician. When Dr. McGrew did not return, Dr. Howard received the permanent appointment as Dispensary Physician. He also maintained his own office and specialized in diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. His duties at the Dispensary included caring for those Chinese addicts who had permits to receive opium every day (in 1897 he had a book of photos made of all the addicts with permits to cut down on chances of fraud), the examination of school children, vaccination, plus treating all routine cases that came to the Dispensary. In October, 1893, he reported to the Board of Health that in the previous quarter he had treated 2,181 patients.

In 1894 he was one of six physicians commissioned by the Board of Health to make scientific experiments in the treatment of patients with leprosy. During the cholera epidemic of 1895, he was one of the doctors in charge of the cholera hospital at Kakaako where he took the arduous task of night duty. Bubonic plague struck Honolulu in December, 1899, and Dr. Howard was soon involved and served as camp physician at the Kalihi Detention Camp.

When the Hawaii Medical Association was reactivated in 1895, Dr. Howard was one of those who helped draw up the constitution. In May, 1895, he was elected vice-president of the Association, and he held the same post in 1897. At the convention in May, 1896, he presented a paper on "Eye Diseases in Children". He also was active in the formation of the Practitioners' Club.

The doctor was an expert tennis player and a charter member of the Pacific Tennis Club where he paired up with Walter Dillingham to win the tournament in 1895. In addition to tennis, he was interested in golf, bowling, and ping pong.

In August, 1902, Dr. Howard left the Islands and returned to Chicago to become superintendent of the Presbyterian Hospital. This position he held until 1906 when he resigned to become associated with Dr. Norman Bridge in Los Angeles.

Dr. Howard died in Los Angeles on February 23, 1927, at the age of 60.

He was a member of the Los Angeles Clinical and Pathological Society, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Medical Association.

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