Milwaukee honors trailblazing doctor by renaming street
Dr. William Finlayson Street named after one of Milwaukee’s first Black doctors
12 NEWS GERRON JORDAN REPORTS FROM BRONZEVILLE. AND IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO GIVE PEOPLE THEIR FLOWERS WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE. AND TODAY IN BRONZEVILLE, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. FOR A TRAILBLAZING DOCTOR AND ICON. YEAH, DOCTOR WILLIAM FINLAYSON WATCHING AS FIFTH STREET JUST STEPS AWAY FROM WHERE HE OPENED HIS FIRST MEDICAL OFFICE. THIS WAS RENAMED IN HIS HONOR. FINLAYSON WAS THE FIRST BLACK DOCTOR AT SAINT JOSEPH’S AND MOUNT SINAI IN MILWAUKEE, DELIVERING THOUSANDS OF BABIES IN HIS 50 PLUS YEAR MEDICAL CAREER. HE’S LITERALLY BEEN A PART OF GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES IN MILWAUKEE AND ACROSS THE STATE. HE’S ALSO BEEN A DRUM MAJOR OF JUSTICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND EQUAL RIGHTS, MARCHING ALONGSIDE HIS FRIEND AND MOREHOUSE COLLEGE BROTHER, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND LATER IN LIFE HELPING FOUND THE NORTH MILWAUKEE STATE BANK, HELPING BLACK PEOPLE AND BLACK FAMILIES WITH THEIR FINANCIAL LITERACY. NOW, AT 98 YEARS YOUNG, HE WAS HERE TO SEE HIS LIFE AND LEGACY HONORED AND ENSHRINED IN THE CITY’S FABRIC FOREVERMORE. HOW’S IT FEEL TO SEE YOUR NAME ON THE SIGN NOW, DAD? WELL, I HOPE IT SAVES. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THE CITY? THAT’S A GREAT CITY. THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE ENCOURAGED MY DAD, SUPPORTED HIM AND BROUGHT US TO THIS VERY SIGNIFICANT PLACE WHERE HIS NAME WILL BE ON THE STREETS SIDE. AND AS YOU DRIVE DOWN THE STREET, YOU WILL ALL REMEMBER FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF DR. WILLIAM ETHAN LACY. THE RENAMING CEREMONY WAS PART OF BRONZEVILLE WEEK, WHICH CONTINUES THROUGH SATURDAY. REPORTING AT NEAR NORTH END. DR. FINLAYSON STREET IN MILWAUKEE. I’M…
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