Almira Fifield, M.D.
- Program
- Subject
- Location
- Lat/Long
- Grant Recipient
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Indiana Historical Bureau
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People
- 198 Franklin St, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA
- 41.466122791927, -87.059816331886
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Indiana Historical Bureau
Almira Fifield, M.D.
Inscription
Almira Fifield, M.D.Side One: Almira Fifield, M.D.
Dr. Almira Fifield and her family settled in Valparaiso by 1842. At a young age, she devoted herself to serving others. She worked as a teacher but left for Boston in 1857 to attend the New England Female Medical College, an early medical school for women. She earned her degree in 1859, making her one of the first formally trained female physicians in Indiana.
Side Two: Almira Fifield, M.D.
Despite a need for physicians, female doctors were not recruited during the Civil War, so Dr. Fifield applied as a nurse for the 9th Indiana Infantry, her brother’s unit. In 1862, the U.S. Sanitary Commission sent her to a Kentucky hospital. A surgeon recognized and used her medical skills in dressing wounds in a recovery ward. Fifield died while treating Union soldiers.
Installed 2025 Indiana Historical Bureau, William G. Pomeroy Foundation, Porter County Museum, Porter County Library Genealogy Center, William Henry Harrison Chapter DAR, and the Fifield Family
