Dr William Holland Wilmer

1863 - 1936  (72 years)

• Name	William Holland Wilmer
  Title	Dr
  Birth	26 Aug 1863	Powhatan County, Virginia, USA
  Gender	Male
  Death	12 Mar 1936	Washington, District of Columbia, USA
  Burial	Washington National Cathedral, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA   [1]
  Person ID	I27951	Tulpehocken Genealogy | Dickinson, Rigg
  Last Modified	14 Mar 2023

  
  

  Family	Re Lewis Smith,   b. 8 Nov 1866, Brandon, Rankin County, Mississippi, USA d. 1 Jun 1958, Millwood, Clarke County, Virginia, USA (Age 91 years)
  Marriage	1891
  Children	+ 1. Rebecca Wilmer,   b. 22 Jul 1896   d. 24 Feb 1980 (Age 83 years)
  Family ID	F10116	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	14 Mar 2023

  
  

• Notes

  Dr. Wilmer was the son of the Right Reverend Richard Wilmer, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Alabama, and of Margaret Brown Wilmer. He attended the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, and received his MD from the University of Virginia in 1885. After studying at the New York Polyclinic Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, he practiced ophthalmology in Washington, DC. He was Professor of Ophthalmology at Georgetown University from 1904-1925. In 1925 he went to Baltimore, Maryland, to establish the Wilmer Institute of Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University. He served as director of the Wilmer Institute for nine years, after which he returned to Washington. Among Dr. Wilmer's contributions to the field of ophthalmology are his "Atlas Fundus Oculi" illustrating the normal variations and pathologic changes in the fundus (back of the eye). Dr. Wilmer was one of the founders of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the American Medical Association, a member of the American Ophthalmological Society, serving as president of the latter in 1923. During World War I, Dr. Wilmer served in the US Air Service and was a pioneer in the establishment of visual requirements and ocular conditions for aviators. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the French Legion of Honor. He was honorably discharged in 1919 as a colonel and was promoted to brigadier general in the Army Medical Reserve Corps. Dr. Wilmer was awarded honorary degrees by Princeton College, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, and Georgetown University. He was a devoted Episcopalian and served as a Trustee of the National Cathedral Foundation. Dr. Wilmer married Re Lewis Smith in 1891. Both are buried in the Cathedral Crypt at the Washington National Cathedral.

  
  

• Sources

  [S64] Website: Find a Grave [text], https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103083067/william-holland-wilmer.