William Hinton was the first Black professor at Harvard Medical School. He developed the Hinton test for syphillis and the Davis-Hinton tests for blood and spinal fluid. He was trained at Harvard Medical School and became an instructor of preventive medicine in 1912 where he would continue until his retirement in 1950.
Hinton directed the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Wassermann Laboratory from its inception in 1915 until 1954. His book Syphilis and Its Treatment became the authoritative reference work soon after its publication in 1939.