William B. Sawyer (November 23, 1886 – 1950) was a doctor who founded Miami's first hospital for African Americans and established a hotel in what was then Colored Town (now Overtown). He was a protégé of W.E.B. Dubois, His daughter Gwen Cherry, was the first African American woman in the Florida Legislature.[1]
He was born in Waldo, Florida. He studied at Atlanta University and Meharry Medical College in Nashville.[2]
His son William B.Sawyer Jr. continued operating the Mary Elizabeth Hotel.[3]