The life story of Edmonia Lewis, a Civil War-era mixed-race orphan who succeeded as an artist only after she expatriated herself to Italy, is a tale of personal triumph in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. And it’s one that makes for a poignant Wednesday’s Woman episode.
You may know the names Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, Sofia Vergara and Eva Mendes. What you may not know is that these Latina actresses stand on the shoulders of this Wednesday’s Woman. Her given name was Lolita Dolores Martinez Asunsolo Lopez Negrette. But film buffs know her as Dolores Del Rio. Born in Durango, Mexico, she was one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen. In fact, Irish author/playwright George Bernard Shaw once said of her, “The two most beautiful things in the world are the Taj Mahal and Dolores Del Rio.”
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”