by Anna Kathryn Lanier
Win a copy of my ebook SALVATION BRIDE. The heroine, Laura, is a medical doctor in 1873 Texas. Just leave a comment to be eligible. I'll draw for a winner on or about June 20th.
Win a copy of my ebook SALVATION BRIDE. The heroine, Laura, is a medical doctor in 1873 Texas. Just leave a comment to be eligible. I'll draw for a winner on or about June 20th.
1870-1960
The women of the
west fascinate me. The hardships they endured
following either their men or their own hearts west are amazing. They went and helped shape the west and the
country as much, if not more, than the men.
Dr. Susan Anderson
One such woman
was Dr. Susan Anderson, who practiced medicine in the mining towns of Colorado
when women doctors were far and few between.
Susan Anderson,
born in 1870, and her brother were both well-educated by their parents. After her parents’ divorce, she moved with
her father and brother to Kansas. There
she excelled in Morse code, but when she told her father she wanted to be a
telegrapher, William told her to set her sights higher and become a physician.
After graduating
high school in 1892, Susan followed her father and step-mother to Colorado. In 1893 she enrolled into the University of
Michigan’s medical school. With the
handful of other women in the school Susan attended the co-ed lectures, but the
anatomy class was separated by the sexes.
The school did not think men and women should take this class together.
As Susan attended
medical school, she also interned at the local hospital. The hours were grueling and it was at the
hospital that she contracted tuberculosis, a disease that plagued her the rest
of her life. After graduating in 1897,
she turned down a position at the hospital and instead returned to Colorado to
practice and to improve her health in the clean air.
Dr. Anderson with her father and brother
There were 55
other doctors in the area she settled, so she drew mostly female patients. However, her proficiency in cleaning wounds
and staving off infections—thus prevent amputations—grew her reputation as a
good doctor. The thriving practice and
clean fresh air did improve her health, as did her engagement to marry a man
she loved.
Tragedy struck
twice, however, in a short amount of time.
First, her fiancée left her at the altar, breaking her heart. Before she could pick up the pieces of her
broken engagement, her beloved brother and best friend John died of
influenza. Dr. Anderson went into a
deep depression and to help lift her spirits, she traveled Colorado. Finally settling in Denver, she once again
set up a practice, but with a glutton of physicians already in the area, the
budding business floundered. She then
moved to Greeley and took a job as a nurse in the local hospital.
When a typhoid
epidemic struck the area, she decided to leave for the good of her health and
moved to Fraser, Co. There, she decided
to practice medicine again and opened shop. After proving herself a good
doctor, her practice thrived. “She
mended bullet wounds, set broken limbs, and even removed abscessed teeth.” She was so admired by the local loggers she
treated that they built her a house.
Dr. Anderson
became well-known throughout Colorado and the country. Colorado General Hospital recognized her as
an exceptional healer and Grand County, Co. appointed her as coroner.
As coroner, she held the commission of overseeing the blasting of a
tunnel through the mountain accountable for any on-the-job deaths or injuries
due to safety negligence. When accidents
did happen in the tunnel, she’d travel the six miles into the Moffat Tunnel to
give first aid and retrieve dead bodies.
Dr. Anderson
practiced for more than 50 years. At age
88, she was hospitalized and lived the remainder of her life in Colorado
General Hospital. After her death in 1960, she was buried near her brother in
Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Reference:
THE DOCTOR WORE
PETTICOATS by Chris Enss
Further reading:
http://www.ellensplace.net/hcg_fac3.html
This article first appeared on Hearts Through History's blog Seduced by History on July 19. 2011
Anna Kathryn Lanier
Romance Author, A GIFT BEYOND ALL MEASURE
Romance Author, A GIFT BEYOND ALL MEASURE
