World Report: March 9, 2007 Vol. #12 Iss. #20

Spotlight

What inspired 10-year-old Sam Williamson to pick Ulysses Grant Bourne as his research topic for a student essay contest? It wasn't that Bourne was the first African-American doctor in Frederick County, Maryland. Or that Bourne founded a hospital for blacks in Frederick at a time when the city was still segregated. Instead, says Sam, it was because Bourne "had the coolest name" listed in the county historical society. Sam's winning essay earned him a $100 prize. He went on to raise $19,000 for a bronze bust of Bourne that will be displayed at Frederick Memorial Hospital. "To do all the things that he was able to do was amazing," says Sam, shown with Bourne's daughter, Dr. Blanche Bourne. "I wanted the whole world to know what he did."