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Elizabeth Blackwell

by Hannah from Lewistown

If society will not admit to a woman's free development, then society must be remodeled. - Elizabeth Blackwell
<a href=http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/images/luscomb9.jpg>Elizabeth's Family (Elizabeth far left) </a href>
Elizabeth's Family (Elizabeth far left)

Elizabeth Blackwell is known for being the first woman awarded the M.D. degree. Elizabeth was born in Britain, in 1821. She had two sisters, Anna and Marian, and a mother and father. Her first education was from Samuel Blackwell, her father. They moved to the United States in 1832, and became involved in social reform. Samuel Blackwell’s business did not work out so well. They moved from New York to Jersey City, and then to Cincinnati, where he died, leaving the family without any financial resources. To support the family, Elizabeth, her two sisters, and her mother opened a private school. It was then that Elizabeth became interested in the topic of medicine, and also in the thought of becoming a woman physician. Her family's religious and social radicalism also influenced her decision. She stated later that she was also seeking a “barrier” to matrimony.

<a href=http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/blackwell/No19_1.jpg>Geneva Medical School, New York </a href>
Geneva Medical School, New York

Elizabeth Blackwell moved to Henderson, Kentucky, as a teacher, and then to North and South Carolina. She taught school, while reading medicine privately. In 1847, she began looking for a medical school that would admit her for a full course of study. She was rejected by all the best schools to which she applied, along with almost all the other schools as well. However, at Geneva Medical College in Geneva, New York, the administration asked the students whether or not she should be admitted. The students, thinking it was a joke, endorsed her admission. Once they discovered that she was serious, everyone was shocked and horrified. She had very few people on her side, and was considered an outcast. At first, she was even denied access to classroom medical demonstrations, because they were said to be inappropriate for women. However, over time, students accepted her, and were impressed by her ability and persistence.

<a href=https://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/bimgdata/FC0761318542.JPG>Blackwell after she graduated. </a href>
Blackwell after she graduated.

Working with quiet determination, she turned aside the hostility of the professors, students, and townspeople, and graduated first in her class in January, 1849. She then became the first woman to graduate from medical school, and then the first woman doctor of medicine in the modern era. Elizabeth Blackwell decided to continue her studies, and returned to England. She then entered a midwives training course in Paris. While there, she became blind in one eye, due to a serious eye infection. She cancelled her plan to become a surgeon.

She then traveled back to England, and practiced medicine, before struggling to open her own practice in the United States. Finally, in 1853, she finally opened a dispensary in the slums of New York. She was then joined by her sister, newly graduated with a medical degree. Elizabeth Blackwell continued her medical excursions until 1907, when she retired after a serious fall down the stairs. Elizabeth Blackwell died in Sussex, in 1910.

<a href=http://upstate.edu/library/history/thumblackwellkoz.jpg>Elizabeth Blackwell</a href>
Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell is my hero for many reasons. First of all, she is a great example of how you can do anything that you set your mind to. She also had incredible motivation, overcoming discrimination, and working extremely hard until she reached her goal. Another reason she is my hero is because she had the courage to do what no one else would do. She had brains, combined with smarts, and realized that she could do more with her life, and could apply herself. Finally, she is my hero because, in a way, I can relate to her. I myself want to go into the sciences, and I know that at least once in my life, I will have to face obstacles for being a woman, and I hope I will be able to use her strength as my example.

Page created on 1/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 1/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

Wikipedia - Information on Elizabeth Blackwell
About - Info. on Elizabeth Blackwell

Extra Info

Letter from Elizabeth Blackwell to Baroness Anne Isabella Milbanke Byron, concerning women's rights, and the education of women physicians, 4 March 1851,(Blackwell Family Papers):

"I do not wish to give [women] a first place, still less a second one--but the most complete freedom, to take their true place whatever it may be," asserted pioneer physician Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) in this spirited response to a suggestion by Lady Noel Byron (1792-1860) that women doctors should assume a secondary position in the medical profession. Blackwell, who against great odds, became the first woman in the United States to obtain a medical degree, took offense at Byron's "fatal error of ranking human beings according to sex instead of character."

From: womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_blackwell_eliz.htm