Reunited and It Feels So Good: Meadowlands Museum Gathers Former Infants Delivered by William Carlos Williams

From 1912-1955, William Carlos Williams delivered approximately 3,000 infants into Rutherford homes and at Passaic General Hospital. (He was on staff at Passaic General Hospital for over 40 years.) Now, the Meadowlands Museum in Rutherford is attempting to gather the children delivered by Williams. More:

They won’t necessarily be fans of poetry. Or even avid readers. But they all have a tie to one of the most revered American poets of the 20th century: They were delivered into this world by William Carlos Williams.

In a first-of-its-kind event, the Meadowlands Museum in Rutherford — where Williams lived, wrote poetry and was a small-town doctor — is attempting to gather anyone who was delivered by Williams, whose specialty was obstetrics and pediatrics. From 1912 to 1955, Williams — sometimes taking chickens or vegetables as payment — delivered an estimated 3,000 babies in Rutherford homes and Passaic General Hospital, where the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet was on staff for more than 40 years.

The museum is hosting a reception for Williams’ grown-up “babies” on July 29, which will dovetail with the non-profit’s new exhibition, “The Practice and the Patient: Healthcare in the Early 20th Century.”

So far, seven people who were delivered by Williams, including someone who now lives in the Netherlands, are expected at the reception, according to Jesse Gordon, manager of exhibits and volunteers. The invited attendees will be given honorary birth certificates and personalized antique-looking baby rattles at the event, Gordon said.

Daphne Williams-Fox, who is Williams’ granddaughter, will be at the reception, as well. The 52-year-old Rutherford lawyer said that while she has met people who were her grandfather’s patients, she has never met anyone that he delivered as a baby.

Learn more at NorthJersey.com.