Latest news with #IndianaHistoricalBureau
Chicago Tribune
22-06-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Porter County's first female physician finally has a tombstone; historical marker unveiled downtown, too
After resting in an unmarked grave for decades, Porter County's first female physician now has not only a tombstone on her grave but also an Indiana Historical Bureau marker in downtown Valparaiso. During twin ceremonies in the grueling heat Saturday, Dr. Almira Fifield received one accolade after another, giving her long-deserved recognition for her accomplishments and dedication. Fifield died March 8, 1863, at the hospital in Paducah, Kentucky, where she tended sick and wounded soldiers during the Civil War for 11 months. She had received her doctor of medicine degree just a decade after Elizabeth Blackwell, the nation's first female physician, received hers. 'We gather to restore her place in history in recognition of her service and her sacrifice,' said Diane Schweitzer, who organized the commemoration and worked with researcher Barbara Fifield Brandt to dig up more information about the Fifield family. Schweitzer is regent with the William Henry Harrison Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Jane Schultz, author of 'Women at the Front: Hospital Workers in Civil War America,' said Fifield was part of 'a small circle of women who managed despite raised eyebrows and occasional harassment.' 'To pursue a career in medicine was tantamount to denunciation of marriage or motherhood,' Schultz said. Dr. Fifield might have set up a medical practice in Valparaiso, but that hasn't been determined yet, she said. 'Women were neither invited nor imagined as potential members of the AMA (American Medical Association),' but at New England Female Medical College in Boston, Fifield was accepted. When the Civil War broke out, the small number of female doctors couldn't join the Union Army as physicians. 'The best they could do was to seek appointments as nurses or matrons, those who managed other female nurses,' Schultz said. 'Despite this official ban on youth, however, persistent young women managed to find their way into hospital service. This was certainly the case for Dr. Fifield,' she said. Fifield had hoped to join the 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment, in which her brother Zacheus served, but was denied. Instead, she was posted at the Union Army hospital in Paducah, Kentucky. The bloody battle at Shiloh greatly increased demand for medical workers, which allowed her services to be accepted. Fifield died of what Brandt, a medical researcher, believes was meningitis. 'Under 18 women who received their MDs before 1861, including Southerners, ultimately served in one capacity or another during the Civil War,' Schultz said. 'The women who came into the service with medical degrees were rare and remarkable,' she said. They were officially listed as nurses, but nothing prevented them from using their medical knowledge, Schultz said. The female physicians' experiences 'were filled with medically and racially complex interactions with people she would not otherwise have met or otherwise treated in civilian life,' Schultz said. The war offered doctors 'an unprecedented opportunity to address bodily debilities of every kind, not only wounds and amputations, but undiagnosed diseases and chronic illnesses in the era before the germ theory was widely embraced by the medical community,' she said. The war saw 750,000 deaths and millions of casualties, offering 'a bloody banquet of clinical experience,' Schultz said. Two-thirds of the deaths were the result of 'the withering effect of disease, when bodies were undernourished and taxed to their physical limits,' she said. Many of the relief workers were convalescing soldiers, but patients often said they preferred being tended by women, who reminded them of their mothers and sisters. 'Women would listen to their stories, acknowledge their humanity and sympathize,' Schultz said. Fifield's day would have begun about 6 a.m., organizing delivery of breakfast to inmates. If the hospital was understaffed, she would empty night jars, wash faces and torsos and tidy up bedding, Schultz said. Her main job was assisting the surgeon in charge during rounds, taking notes of patients' conditions and any progress. 'Women who impressed their surgical peers as especially proficient were to help debride, irrigate or dress wounds, hold appendages during procedures and even do stitch and scalpel work, and that was all before lunch,' Schultz said. Fifield's typical day would have been 16 hours, but could be as long as 18 to 20 during busy times. 'We can only hope the surgeons who directed work at the Paducah hospital saw her talent and maturity and sought her assistance,' Schultz said. 'Twenty-first century hospitals still make use of the military system or organization that is a legacy of Civil War medicine at the temporary hospitals, some of them in tents, that dotted the landscape,' Schultz said. Casey Pfeiffer, of the Indiana Historical Bureau, led the unveiling of the historical marker south of the Porter County Museum on Franklin Street. 'Markers are snapshots, continuing to remind us of our past,' she said. 'History teaches us lessons about our past while informing us about our present,' Pfeiffer said. City Council President Ellen Kapitan read a proclamation by Mayor Jon Costas proclaiming Saturday Dr. Almira Fifield Day, honoring the doctor who gave her life in service to her country and encouraging citizens to reflect on the privilege, rights and responsibilities of being an American. At Union Street Cemetery, where the new marker on Fifield's grave was joined by one honoring the Fifields as a pioneer family, the accolades continued. Terri Lehman, president of the Society of Indiana Pioneers, announced 'this extraordinary Hoosier' was honored May 31 as one of less than 10 Distinguished Hoosiers in the society's 109-year history. Overall, the society has honored 10,020 Hoosier ancestors. Brandt, whose research into Fifield stemmed from just a few sentences about her in a notebook on the Fifield family history from Brandt's late father, laid two wreaths, one on Dr. Fifield's grave and one for the entire family. More than 60 members of the Fifield family from the East Coast, West Coast and points in between gathered to honor Dr. Fifield, Brandt said. Dr. Fifield died at age 29, unmarried and childless. Six siblings descended from Dr. Fifield's brother Zacheus, their great-great-grandfather, attended. 'It's cool to walk the land that our ancestors walked,' said Ann Fifield of Dartmouth, Massachusetts. 'This is really wonderful,' said Lisa Fifield Snadderly, of Portland, Oregon. She is a nurse whose father is a physician. Scott Fifield, of Duluth, Minnesota, where he and his siblings grew up, said he and a brother visited the cemetery two years ago and were impressed by how much the DAR did to clean it up since then. 'Beautiful cemetery, lovely people, hot day,' said Doug Fifield, of Duluth.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
50+ state employees laid off as Indiana budget cuts take effect
The Indiana Historical Bureau, housed within the Indiana State Library in downtown Indianapolis, saw five of its six staff members laid off this week amid statewide budget cuts. The bureau oversees the State Historical Marker Program and other public history initiatives. (Photo courtesy the Indiana State Library) Indiana agencies have laid off dozens of state employees in response to recently enacted budget cuts — marking the first such reductions since Gov. Mike Braun signed the state's new, slimmed down spending plan last month. The governor's office confirmed that agencies under both the education and commerce verticals announced staff reductions on Tuesday. The Indiana State Museum also let go of several employees last week. State officials attributed the layoffs to the new state budget, which slashed operations funding for most agencies. Courtney Bearsch, a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Education, confirmed on Wednesday that 39 employees across four education-related agencies have so far been notified of a 'Reduction in Force' (RIF). Those layoffs included: 16 employees at the Indiana State Library 14 at the Indiana School for the Deaf 6 at the Department of Education 3 at the Commission for Higher Education 'In the final days of the legislative session, our state's leaders had to adjust the final budget to account for an over $2 billion budget shortfall. Like most agencies across state government, agencies within the education vertical saw budget reductions,' Bearsch told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. 'In response, we have had to make difficult decisions regarding our agencies' operations to adjust to the realities of a much tighter budget.' But cuts to agency funding predates predates the late-session budget shortfall. Braun's draft spending plan — released in February — cut appropriations for the state library by nearly 30%, from roughly $3.7 million a year in the last biennial budget to around $2.6 million. Original drafts of the budget similarly pitched nearly $1 million in cuts for the Indiana School for the Deaf. Both proposed cuts were retained in the final version of the two-year spending plan. Some of the deepest cuts so far appear to be at the Indiana Historical Bureau, a division of the Indiana State Library. Agencies instructed to withhold funds on top of 5% budget cuts Five of the bureau's six staffers were let go Tuesday afternoon without advance notice, affected employees told the Capital Chronicle. That leaves just one person to run the office, which manages 750 community-funded markers across Indiana as part of the State Historical Marker Program, in addition to various other public history initiatives. An additional 43 positions across the education vertical will remain unfilled, for a combined estimated savings of $6.9 million in salary and benefits, Bearsch said. 'This is not something that was taken lightly, and we are grateful for the work of each of these colleagues to serve our agencies and Hoosiers,' she continued. 'Each agency's unique budget and respective reductions determined the staffing adjustments needed. When possible, agencies prioritized not filling vacant positions, as well as leveraging other funding streams, rather than reducing current staffing levels.' In the commerce vertical, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) eliminated eight positions this week as part of a 12-person reduction in workforce across the vertical, said IEDC spokesperson Erin Sweitzer. Three additional layoffs were recorded at the Indiana Destination Development Corporation (IDDC), and one from the Governor's Workforce Cabinet. Those layoffs followed earlier reductions driven by 'natural employee attrition'— totaling 49 positions since January. Sweitzer said 89 employees remain at the IEDC and eight at the IDDC. Altogether, the changes are expected to save $7.4 million annually — $1.5 million of which comes from this week's cuts — and 'align' the agency more closely with Braun's strategic priorities, including workforce development and regional economic growth. CONTACT US The staffing shakeups follow sharp reductions to some agency budgets. The state's next two-year spending plan was approved by Indiana lawmakers in April — then signed by Braun in May — and will take effect July 1. The IEDC's operational and programmatic budget was cut by about 25%, from nearly $100 million in the last state budget to about $74 million per year. The state library's annual appropriation dropped from roughly $3.7 million to $2.6 million, and the state museum's from $11.2 million to $10.6 million. The total number of state employees affected by layoffs remains unclear. But state data shows that the overall state workforce has already been shrinking in recent months. According to the Indiana Transparency Portal, the number of state employees fell from 32,212 in December 2024 to 31,513 as of June 10 — a drop of almost 700 workers. Ivy Tech Community College recently announced it will lay off 202 employees statewide as it responds to significant cuts in state funding and frozen tuition rates. And Braun's administration last week directed agencies to withhold additional funds on top of 5% budget cuts already built into the $44 billion biennial budget passed by the Republican-led General Assembly in April. The governor and other state officials have described the reductions as fiscally responsible and necessary for long-term stability. Democrats and other critics have warned, though, that the cuts are likely to interrupt — or end — numerous public services and state programs. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
