Dolores Piñero facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dolores Piñero
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|---|---|
| Born | 1892 San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Died | 1975 (aged 82–83) Río Piedras, Puerto Rico |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service/ |
 United States Army |
| Unit | U.S. Army Medical Corps |
Dr. Dolores Mercedes Piñero (1892–1975) was a pioneering doctor from Puerto Rico. She was one of the very first Puerto Rican women to become a medical doctor. During World War I, she made history as the first Puerto Rican female doctor to work for the United States Army. Dr. Piñero helped set up a hospital in Puerto Rico to care for soldiers who got sick with the swine flu.
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Early Life and Medical Training
Dolores Piñero was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1892. At that time, Puerto Rico was still a colony of Spain. She went to school there for her early education.
After the Spanish–American War in 1898, Spain gave Puerto Rico to the United States. Dolores's family sent her to Boston, Massachusetts, in the U.S. There, she learned to speak English very well and continued her college studies.
In 1913, she achieved a big goal: she earned her medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Boston. This was a huge accomplishment! Dolores Piñero was one of the first four women from Puerto Rico to become a doctor. The other three were María Elisa Rivera Díaz and Ana Janer, who graduated in 1909, and Palmira Gatell, who graduated in 1910.
Helping During World War I
After finishing her medical studies, Dr. Piñero went back to Puerto Rico. She opened her own medical practice in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, which is now part of San Juan. She specialized in both general medicine and anesthesia.
In 1917, as World War I was happening, the United States passed a law called the Jones–Shafroth Act. This law made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens. Because of this, Puerto Rican men could be drafted into the U.S. Army.
Joining the Army Medical Team
When the U.S. joined World War I, the U.S. Army Medical Corps thought they had enough male doctors. Dr. Piñero wanted to help and applied to work for the Army, but she was turned down at first. She didn't give up! She wrote a letter to the main Army doctor in Washington, D.C., explaining why she wanted to serve.
Soon after, she received a message telling her to report to Camp Las Casas in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was assigned to the Army Medical Department.
By 1918, the Army realized they needed more doctors who specialized in anesthesia. Anesthesia is a special type of medicine used to make patients sleep during surgery. Even though these jobs didn't pay much, the Army started hiring women doctors to fill these important roles. These doctors were hired as civilian workers, meaning they weren't official military officers. They didn't wear uniforms and had less authority than military doctors, but their skills were very important.
In October 1918, Dr. Piñero officially signed her contract with the Army. She was determined to use her medical skills to help with the war effort. She was sent to the Army General Hospital at Fort Brooke, located in the old Ballajá Barracks in Old San Juan. There, she worked as an anesthesiologist in the mornings and in the laboratory in the afternoons.
Fighting the Swine Flu
A terrible illness called the "Swine Flu" (a type of influenza) was spreading rapidly. It affected many soldiers in Army camps around the world. Dr. Piñero and four male doctors were given a special mission. They were ordered to open a large hospital with 400 beds in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Their job was to care for the many patients who had caught the swine flu.
Among the nurses who worked with Dr. Piñero in Ponce was Rosa A. González, a well-known nurse. The swine flu epidemic was very serious, infecting a quarter of all soldiers and causing the deaths of over 55,000 American troops. After the flu outbreak ended, Dr. Piñero was sent back to the Army hospital in San Juan.
Life After the War
When her contract with the Army ended after World War I, Dr. Piñero went back to her private medical practice in Río Piedras. She married Celestino López Pérez. They had a son, Jose Antonio López Piñero, and a daughter, Dolores "Lolin" Piñero-López (1922-2011). Her daughter later founded an antique store in El Paso, Texas.
Not much is known about Dr. Piñero's later years, but we do know she was a leader in the local Women's Civic Club. She also worked for the Puerto Rico Department of Health. She was the first Puerto Rican woman to be chosen for the Puerto Rican Medical Examiners Board, which oversees doctors. Dr. Piñero lived with her husband in Monacillo, a part of Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. She passed away in 1975 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
