Category: ethnicity

Susan La Flesche Picotte: America’s First Native American Doctor

Susan La Flesche Picotte was the first first native American female doctor
In the middle of both background images, a young Susan La Flesche is shown in the two different worlds of her 19th-century life. The mature Susan La Flesche in the foreground is the woman who became the first Native American physician.

The idea that “it was only an Indian and it did not matter” if a person received adequate medical care or not changed the life of Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865-1915), the first Native American woman in the United States to receive a medical degree. Continue reading “Susan La Flesche Picotte: America’s First Native American Doctor”

Life Your Voice and Sing With Dorothy Allen Conley Elam

African American teacher, historian and media producer Dorothy Elam shown in her 1952 classroom in New Jersey.
Dorthy Elam was a teacher, historian, media producer and advocate for African-American studies. She’s shown here in a 1952 classroom in a Berlin, N.J., school that had only recently been desegregated.

This Wednesday’s Woman was born in Virginia, but spent her life in Camden County, New Jersey. Dorothy Allen Conley Elam (1904-1989) was an African American teacher, historian and award-winning advocate of Black studies. Continue reading “Life Your Voice and Sing With Dorothy Allen Conley Elam”

Janet Collins, First Black Prima Ballerina to Dance at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera House

Janet Collins, first African American ballerina to dance at NYC's Metropolitan Opera House
Janet Collins (1917-2003) was a dancer, choreographer, teacher and black prima ballerina.

Janet Collins (1917-2003) was a dancer, choreographer, teacher and the first black prima ballerina to dance at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera House. She is one of America’s most famous female African American dancers. Continue reading “Janet Collins, First Black Prima Ballerina to Dance at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera House”