hello once again and welcome to another episode of the really show. I'm your host
Aaron Ross, today's show the story of the indomitable Susan La Flesche Picotte. if
you like the show we would love it if you would subscribe. Boom. Susan La Flesche
Picotte was a late 19th century Native American woman who didn't let bigotry
prejudice or sexism stop her from accomplishing significant achievements
during her 50-year lifetime. She was the first Native American man or woman to
both receive a medical degree and serve as a physician within the United States.
Susan La Flesche was born on the Omaha reservation in 1865. Her mother was Mary
daughter of Dr. John Gale the first Army physician in Nebraska both of
La Flesche's parents were of mixed white and Native American backgrounds. They
wanted their children to be able to succeed and survive in both white and
Native communities. La Flesche grew up watching the Omaha people living in
poverty, poor conditions and suffering from diseases. She watched a sick native
woman die because a white doctor would not treat her. This inspired La Flesche's
interest in medicine because she wanted to provide care to people on the
reservation. She began her education on the reservation and then later her
father sent her for additional schooling to the East Coast. She returned home to
teach at a Quaker Mission School and while there she treated ethnologist
Alice Fletcher who encouraged her to go back east and finish her education with
a formal medical degree. Due to her successful academic achievements along
with help from Fletcher and other friends who believed in her work, she was
awarded funding from the US Office of Indian Affairs and became the first
person to ever be awarded federal aid for professional education. She graduated
from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1889 at the top of her
class and became the first Native American physician within the United
States. As a doctor living in Pennsylvania La Flesh was torn between
urban living and wishing she was back home on the
reservation. Eventually she returned to work at a government-administered
hospital in Nebraska caring for 1,200 patients both Native American and white.
While working in the hospital she typically saw 100 patients a month and
yet she was paid 10 times less than a u.s. army or navy doctor. She made only
$500 a year working 20-hour days and when she ran out of government funds for
supplies she used her own money to purchase them. As time went on she
recognized that healthcare needed to change on the reservation. She educated
the community about hygiene cleanliness and encouraged home ventilation to
reduce the risk and spread of diseases such as tuberculosis. in 1894 La Flesche
married Henry Picotte, a Sioux man from South Dakota. Together they moved to
Bancroft Nebraska where La Flesche set up her private practice. While
establishing her practice she also raised two sons took care of her husband
Henry who was suffering from alcoholism and tirelessly worked for better health
care for Native Americans and this was all during a time when women rarely
worked outside of the home.
Sadly Henry Picotte past away in 1905. La Flesh joined the temperance movement
which emphasized no alcohol and lobbied for prohibition and better health care
for people on the reservation. As part of this work she led a delegation to
Washington DC to lobby for prohibition of alcohol being sold or possessed on
reservation land. She raised private funds to open a
hospital on the reservation in Walthill Nebraska in 1913. The hospital served
Native American and white patients for more than 30 years and was later renamed
to the Dr. Susan Picotte Memorial Hospital. Along with her temperance work she also
lobbied local authorities and Congress to help Native Americans with
citizenship, land, and legal rights. She watched many of her people being
exploited by fraudulent land deals and she herself argued with the Bureau of
Indian Affairs that she was more qualified than a male relative to manage
her husband's estate after his death. Unfortunately
after years of overworking, suffering, from respiratory issues and chronic pain
Dr. Susan Picotte passed away in 1915. Today she is recognized as a pioneer of
the woman's movement and for her advocacy related to causes that were
ignored by the majority of people during her time. Well that's our show for today
thanks again for watching we'll see you next time.
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