An Immigrant Story – Dr. Alfhild Elizabeth Heideman

Dr. Alfhild Heideman's class at Helsingfors University

Women in the Copper Country lived amazing lives and left distinct marks in local history and on the landscape. Meet Dr. Alfhild Heideman. Dr. Alfhild Heideman graduated from medical school at the University of Helsingfors (Helsinki) in Finland. Arriving in Calumet in 1900, she found local doctors resistant to her practice. News of her arrival spread in medical journals from coast to coast.

 

Notepad from Dr. Alfhild Heideman

By 1905 Dr. Heideman's practice in Centennial Heights was well-established. Moving her office to the Walz Block on Pine Street in Calumet, she soon became more visible in the community. However, like many women of the time she also faced discrimination within her discipline. At one point she was reported by local medical men for not being a registered physician and was arrested. A few short weeks later she passed the state examination and continued her practice.

 

Dr. Alfhild Heideman's Gravestone

NPS Photo

Dr. Heideman’s niece Miriam lived with her aunt and attended school at the University of Michigan where she successfully petitioned the school newspaper to allow women on staff in 1915. Miriam was also an inaugural member of the University’s Equal Suffrage Association. Following a brief marriage, she returned to the Copper Country and her aunt’s home. Dr. Heideman lived in the Calumet area through her death in 1930. She is buried at Lake View Cemetery.