George W. Hilliard II was born in Tocopolu, Mississippi, in 1915. At the age of four, he moved with his family to Beloit. He attended area schools, graduating from Beloit High School in 1932 and from Beloit College in 1936. He went on to graduate from Meharry Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee, and pursued post-graduate studies in surgery at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He served an internship at Freedman’s Hospital in D.C., studied at the Mayo Clinic, and completed a specialized course in chest surgery at Boston College.

Facing racial discrimination in smaller hospitals, Dr. Hilliard chose to practice medicine in Milwaukee, where he became the first Black member of the Milwaukee Academy of Surgeons in September 1963. After many years of effort, he also integrated the International College of Surgeons.

Dr. Hilliard was a member of the American Board of Surgery, the Pan American Medical Association, the American and National Medical Associations, the American Federation of Clinical Research, and the Wisconsin and Milwaukee Medical Associations. He served as treasurer of the Milwaukee Association and was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

He published articles in both American and British medical journals and was licensed to practice in Wisconsin and Tennessee.

Outside of his profession, Dr. Hilliard was deeply involved in human relations. He served on the Milwaukee Commission on Community Relations and as acting president of the adult branch of the NAACP. He also worked with the Boys Club, the Urban League, and other community-minded groups. He was an active Mason as well.

Dr. Hilliard married his wife, Joy, in Nashville, Tennessee, in June of 1942. He died on April 8, 1969, and Joy followed on February 19, 1976.

Beloit has honored Dr. Hilliard by naming a park in his memory and establishing a minority scholarship in his name. The integration of the medical community remains Dr. Hilliard’s living monument. Beloit is proud that, for a time, he lived among us.