Emily Stowe

Dr. Emily Howard-Jennings Stowe was born on May 1st, 1831 in South Norwich, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Emily was the first women in Canada to practise medicine. Emily is my hero because she made me believe that when I grow up, I can become whatever I want to be. If Emily Stowe didn't fight for women rights, or prove to Canada that women should have the same rights as men, I wouldn't be able to get my education in Canada's universities or colleges! Emily changed Canada's perspective on women. She changed the world.

Emily was the oldest of her six sisters. She had a mother named Hannah Howard-Jennings and a father named Solomon Jennings. Emily grew up in a family of strong girls. She would do all the farm work that the boys would usually do. Emily's education came from her mother at home. Her mother gave Emily and her sisters outstanding education, so Emily's family grew up intelligent and strong. Emily was raised in a QUAKER town. The people who lived in a QUAKER town believed that both men and women had the same rights. Even though most people in Emily's time thought the idea of equal rights was odd or dangerous, Emily always thought that having the same rights was normal, so she was a life-long believer of women rights.

At the age of fifteen, Emily was invited to start teaching in a nearby public school, which was one of a few jobs that women were allowed to do. After six years, Emily decided to be a teacher. So she applied to a school in Toronto that accepted men and women. Emily graduated successfully in 1854 and even earned a First - Class Teacher's Certificate and became principal of a Bradford Public School. At the age of 23, Emily became the first women principal in Canada!

In 1856, Emily married John Stowe, a carriage-maker from England. Since women weren't allowed to work when they were married, Emily had to quit her job. In seven years, John and Emily had three children: two sons and a daughter. Their names were Frank, Howard and Augusta.

A little after Emily gave birth to her third child, trouble struck. John was diagnosed with a terrible lung disease called "Tuberculosis". To keep the children away from the disease, John had to move away into the country. Without John to support the family, Emily needed a job. She found another teaching position at a nearby school, and while she worked, she would leave her children for one of her sisters to care for. Her name was Cornelia Jennings.

Even though Emily enjoyed teaching, she really wanted to become a doctor. When Emily was young, her neighbour and close family friend Dr. John Lancaster taught Emily homeopathic medicine. Treating patents with homeopathic medicine didn't hurt anyone and it wasn't dangerous. Emily was already interested in medicine since she was a child, but it could also be possible that Emily wanted to become a doctor because of John's illness. So in 1865, Emily decided to quit teaching and start studying medicine in a university.

In that time, women weren't allowed into Canadian universities. The first university that Emily applied to wouldn't let her in. The president stated: "The doors of the University aren't open to women, and I trust they will never be." This made Emily angry and it was that time that Emily promised to herself that She'd fight for women rights, no matter what it took. Since no Canadian university would let Emily in though, she had to get her education in the United States of America. Emily applied there, and was accepted into the New York Medical College, this collage accepted women too. While studying there, she made friends with two women suffragists, suffragists were people that fought for a certain group of people to vote. Their names were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. They were fighting for women rights,and these two women and ideas changed Emily's life.

After studying hard and tirelessly, Emily graduated medical school in 1867 and returned to Canada immediately. She moved to Toronto with her three children and found clients shortly after she arrived. Soon after she returned though, she found out that a new law had been passed. Any doctor that had not studied medicine in Canada now had to study in a Canadian university for one term and pass it with a test in order to get a license and officially be a doctor. Emily didn't know what to do at first. Women weren't allowed into Canadian universities, or even practise medicine. If Emily kept treating patients without a lisence, she would be breaking the law. Emily decided to risk getting arrested, and she became the first Canadian women to ever practise medicine in Canada.

Emily asked a number of times to be accepted into the Toronto School of Medicine. At first, she was rejected, but that didn't stop Emily, of course. She kept on asking, until the president finally accepted her as long as she didn't complain. Emily studied hard and completed the term.

Some examples of Emily's actions and achievements were that she was the first Canadian women to ever practise medicine in Canada. She also fought for women rights and proved the equality in men and women to Canada. Emily was the youngest and and also the first woman principal of a school during her time. Emily was also a champion woman suffragist and organized a club in 1893 called the "Dominion Women Suffrage Association". She was the president of her own club, and her club was renamed after five years to the "Toronto Women's Suffrage Club". Emily even inspired her daughter, Augusta Stowe, to become a doctor and fight for women rights too. Emily's doctor license was finally given to her in 1880.One of her greatest achievements was that she had her own posting stamp to honer her in 1981.

Some main characteristics of Emily Stowe are courage, caring, and integrity. She displays courage by fighting for women rights and her own. She also displays caring because she opened her own secret clinic to care for sick patients, even though she was breaking the law and risked getting arrested. She also displayed integrity because all her actions were the right thing to do.

I would consider Emily Stowe a hero because she fought for women rights and to be able to vote in elections and help support their families. She showed everyone that men and women both had the same rights. Before Emily, women in Canada were laughed at when they even tried to start a career in anything. Because of Emily Stowe, now women have a chance of a good future. Emily died on April 30th 1903, one day away from her 72nd birthday due to an illness, but left all Canadian women with the memory of a great hero.