By: HISTORY.com Editors
Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte becomes the first Native American woman to graduate from medical school
On March 18, 1889, Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte becomes the first Native American woman to graduate from medical school. She was top of her class at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.
As a young girl on Nebraska’s Omaha Reservation, La Flesche experienced a formative moment: staying at the bedside of an elderly Omaha woman in agonizing pain, waiting all night for the white doctor to arrive. The woman died overnight and the doctor never appeared.
8 Incredible Inventions of the Indigenous People of the Americas
From goggles to kayaks and more, discover eight incredible inventions by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
"It was only an Indian and it [did] not matter," she later recalled—had the old woman been white, La Flesche intuited, the doctor would have hurried over at the first notice.
La Flesche went on to study at Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania and, at 24, graduated a year early. While her colleagues encouraged her to stay and practice medicine on the East Coast, she returned home to Nebraska with the intent of serving her community. Soon after, she became the sole physician for more than 1,200 people in the Omaha and nearby Winnebago Tribes, across over 400 miles. After she married in 1894 and had two sons, she continued to serve patients across the reservation, taking her children on house calls as needed. In 1913, with help of her husband and donations, La Flesche opened up the first privately funded hospital on a reservation. She intended to help anyone who needed it, white or Native.
La Flesche was a passionate advocate on the reservation for temperance. Alcohol had been introduced to the Omaha tribe by white fur traders and had devastated the community (La Flesche's own husband died of complications from alcoholism). She lobbied the state legislature, begging them to not allow whiskey peddlers to sell in the reservation, and eventually did persuade the Office of Indian Affairs to ban liquor sales in towns formed in the reservation.
Remembering the First Native American Woman Doctor
Susan La Flesche shattered not just one barrier, but two, to become the first Native American woman doctor in the United States in the 1880s.
Susan La Flesche shattered not just one barrier, but two, to become the first Native American woman doctor in the United States in the 1880s.
After several years of declining health, La Flesche died of bone cancer on September 18, 1915.
To this day, Native Americans face lower life expectancy of almost 10 years and a disproportionate level of disease due to a number of structural factors entrenched over decades, including inadequate education, poverty and discrimination in the delivery of health services.
Also on This Day in History
Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on March 14th
Related
Native American History
22 videos
He soared to fame in a place trying to strip him of his identity.
Native Americans at Cahokia erected mysterious timber circles aligned with the sky.
One settlement in modern-day Illinois hosted a population of around 20,000, while another featured multiple-story buildings.
About the author
HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Christian Zapata, Cristiana Lombardo and Adrienne Donica.
Fact Check
We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.
Citation Information
- Article Title
- Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte becomes the first Native American woman to graduate from medical school
- Author
- HISTORY.com Editors
- Website Name
- History
- Date Accessed
- October 29, 2026
- Publisher
- A&E Television Networks
- Last Updated
- August 05, 2026
- Original Published Date
- August 03, 2022
