Susan La Flesche Picotte
Susan La Flesche Picotte
Edited by Sasha Pavlov
Edited by Sasha Pavlov
3/4/19
3/4/19
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Susan La Flesche Picotte (born Susan La Flesche) was born in 1865 on an Omaha Reservation in Nebraska. Her most notable achievement was becoming the first Native American to receive a medical degree and practice medicine. She had a primary education and then taught at a Quaker school on the Reservation for a few years. During her time at the school, she met a woman named Alice Fletcher who encouraged her to complete her education and get her medical degree. She attended Hampton University in Virginia--known as the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute at that time--and graduated second in her class.
Picotte was a remarkable woman: she could speak 3 languages (English, French and Otoe), could paint, play piano, and had read Shakespeare. After graduating from Hampton University, she attended the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. She graduated after three years (as valedictorian), and received her medical degree in 1889. Picotte had become the first Native American doctor. Despite her tremendous achievements she was still denied the right to vote and American citizenship.
When she returned to the reservation as a doctor; she was the only physician on the reservation that encompassed 1,350 square miles. She made house calls to treat tuberculosis, cholera, and other diseases. Many Omahas doubted her expertise. After her husband’s death--he died from tuberculosis that was worsened by his alcohol addiction--Picotte became an activist and tried to help her people by leading temperance campaigns, encouraging people to use proper hygiene and reduce practices that spread disease--like communal drinking cups.
In 1913, her long-time dream came to reality when she had enough money to open a hospital on the reservation. Picotte died in 1915. Now, the hospital serves as a museum of the work of Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte and the rest of the tribe.
Works Cited
“Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte.” U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 3 June 2015, cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_253.html.
Vaughan, Carson. “The Incredible Legacy of Susan La Flesche, the First Native American to Earn a Medical Degree.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Mar. 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/incredible-legacy-susan-la-flesche-first-native-american-earn-medical-degree-180962332/.
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