The Susan Anderson papers cover Anderson's life from 1874 to 1955. The collection includes correspondence from her family and patients, her medical licenses, pharmaceutical advertisements, ephemera from the University of Michigan, and family photographs.
Dr. Susan Anderson was born on January 31, 1870 in Nevada Mills, Indiana. In 1879 her parents William and Maria Anderson divorced and her father gained custody of Dr. Anderson and her younger brother John. Growing up Dr. Anderson aspired to be a telegraph operator, but her father encouraged her to become a doctor, offering to pay her tuition. In the 1880's the Anderson's moved to Wichita, Kansas. Dr. Anderson graduated from Wichita High School in 1891 at 21 years of age. Shortly after graduation, Dr. Anderson's family moved to the gold mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado, where her father prospered as a stock dealer. In 1893 Dr. Anderson left Cripple Creek to attend the medical school at the University of Michigan. While attending the university relations with her father became strained and he stopped funding her education. To remain enrolled Dr. Anderson borrowed money from a wealthy classmate and worked night duty at the Catherine Street Hospital where she believed she contracted tuberculosis.
Dr. Anderson graduated from the University of Michigan in 1897 and returned home to Cripple Creek where she established her first practice. At first she treated mostly women, until she was able to save a boy's arm after being told by other physicians that it should be amputated. Dr. Anderson's reputation spread, but in 1900 her fiancé left her at the altar and her younger brother, John Anderson, died of pneumonia. The death of her brother and the end of her engagement caused Dr. Anderson to leave Cripple Creek for good. In 1901, she settled in Denver to establish a new practice, but the abundance of doctors left Dr. Anderson with no patients of her own. Dismayed she left for Greeley, Colorado where she became a nurse. After six years in Greeley, Susan's tuberculosis reemerged and forced her to leave for a colder climate.
In 1907 Dr. Anderson settled in Fraser, Colorado, but did not treat her first patient, a wounded horse named Dave, until a year later. Her success treating Dave kick started her medical practice in Fraser. Many of her patients were poor and paid Dr. Anderson with food and supplies. When the Moffat Tunnel, a railroad and water tunnel meant to cut through the Continental Divide, was under construction Dr. Anderson was made Grand County Coroner, allowing her to gain a steady income. She played an active role treating patients during the great influenza epidemic of 1918, and setting broken bones of skiers at the Winter Park ski resort. Dr. Susan Anderson passed away on April 16, 1960 and was buried in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
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Biographical information from:
- Cornell, Virginia.Doc Susie: The True Story of a Country Physician in the Colorado Rockies. Carpinteria, Ca: Manifest Publications, 1991;
- "Susan 'Doc Susie' Anderson,"Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, last modified December 17, 2013, http://www.cogreatwomen.org/index.php/item/104-susan-anderson.)
