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In the annals of St. Louis African American history, the name Dr. William C. Banton is often overlooked.
The late Dr. Banton, the first director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health who is credited with “modernizing the office,” was honored Monday in celebration of National Public Health Week with members of his family in attendance.
“We wanted to take this time to honor and remember our first Black director of the Department of Public Health, Dr. Banton,” said Dr. Kanika Cunningham, director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health.
“It has been 50 years since he designed and implemented a new, modern health department. He was a trailblazer who was known for his warm humor and his dedication to public health.”
Dr. Banton joined the County’s Health and Hospital Departments in 1973 and served until 1979.
According to his oral history published by Washington University, Banton was born in 1922 in Washington, D.C. He earned his medical degree from Howard University in 1946 and then interned at Homer G. Phillips Hospital. He completed his residency at the former Robert Koch Hospital in St. Louis County.
He received a Master’s Degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public health in 1970. He served in the U.S. Air Force in World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam War. In 1973 he was promoted to Brigadier General and was the first Black person to rise to that rank. He retired from the reserves in 1979.
Banton served as Health Commissioner for the City of St. Louis from 1970-1972 and successfully advocated for the creation of the Missouri Department of Health while serving as president of the Missouri Public Health Association.
In 1985 and was appointed as a medical consultant to the agency.
Banton also taught on the faculties of both Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis University School of Medicine.
In 1987 he was elected president of the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society, the first African American to hold the position in the society’s 150-year-long history.
“It is impossible to list the plethora of contributions Dr. Banton made to the medical community,” County Executive Dr. Sam Page said. “He was known for his genuine concern for patients, and St. Louis County is grateful for the foundation he built in creating what is now our Department of Public Health.”
Before joining St. Louis County, Dr. Banton led the city’s tuberculosis program in 1964, where he set up the first mobile screening unit.
Dr. Banton passed away on December 31, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Milagros T. Roman, MD, whom he met during her own residency at the former Homer G. Phillips Hospital.
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