June 17: Birthday of Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865)
Prayer Idea
Pray for the Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha) people.
History Note
Susan La Flesche was born in 1865 on the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska. Her father, Joseph, also known as Iron Eye, was chief of the Omaha. Her mother Mary was also known as One Woman.
As a child, Susan watched a white doctor refuse care to a dying indigenous woman. This inspired her to become a doctor to help all people. At the age of 24, she became the first American Indian woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. Her patients referred to her as Dr. Susan.
After becoming a doctor, Susan worked at a government boarding school for Omaha students. Dr. Susan married Henry Picotte, and she opened a private medical practice in Bancroft, Nebraska. She made house calls riding on her horse named Pie.
In 1913 she helped to open a hospital in the town of Walthill, Nebraska. Today that building is an historic site honoring the work of Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte.
This image shows Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte with the memorial hospital she founded. Image of Dr. Susan courtesy the Nebraska State Historical Society Photograph Collections. Hospital photo by Ammodramus / Wikimedia Commons.
Learn More
Watch this video about Dr. Susan’s life.
Find other resources at Homeschool History.
