Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell is known as the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the U.S.A.. Blackwell lived from February 3rd, 1821 to May 31, 1910. She was an advocate for women's rights by promoting more education for women. Elizabeth wasn’t always interested in being a doctor until her dying friend commented that if her doctor was a woman then maybe she’d have better care. That sparked something in Elizabeth, she started to pursue medical schools and that is when she had noticed how much sexism took place in healthcare. She applied to all medical schools in New York and Philadelphia and more. All but one medical school accepted her, and so she attended Geneva Medical College became the first woman to attend medical school in the United States.

After graduating, Blackwell continued to advocate for women and social justice, she spoke in front of young women upon the significance of women being educated and cared for. She opened the first hospital for women and children. She had many accomplishments in her life in america and Europe by educating women and providing schooling for them to obtain a medical degree.

Early life

Her and her family moved to America when Elizabeth was 11 years old, early on she was uninterested in the medical field. "hated everything connected with the body, and could not bear the sight of a medical book... My favorite studies were history and metaphysics, and the very thought of dwelling on the physical structure of the body and its various ailments filled me with disgust.” she said. That was her opinion on medicine until her dying friend said that her suffering would be lessened if she were cared for by a woman. After her father died when she was 17, that left her and her family financially unfortunate. Because of this, Blackwell and her sisters opened a school for young ladies which helped pay the bills while also helping society. By the influence of her sister she converted to Episcopalianism only to later change her mind and convert to transcendentalism under the influence of outside people. She stopped attending the Epicospal church and started attending the Unitarian Church instead. Because of this her academy faced backlash and was later abandoned in 1842. In the early 1840’s her opinions began circulate about social justice when she was teaching in Kentucky and got witness the truths of slavery so she resigned from the job.

Friends and Family

She was born to Hannah Lane and Samuel Blackwell. She was the third of nine children and her father was an abolitionist who advocated for anti-slavery. at a young age she was introduced to strong opinions on social reform like abolishing slavery and child labor and promoting women’s rights

This provoked her interest in social justice. Her father died when she was 17, but her and her siblings continued to speak up for women's rights and aid in the anti-slavery movement. She worked very closely with her sister Emily Blackwell and they both became the 1st and the third woman to earn a medical degree in america

Later on in life she adopted an Irish orphan name Katherine Barry also known as kitty Barry. She adopted her for many reasons such as, but manly it was because of loneliness. Elizabeth never got married even though many gents had made the offer she could never seem to find her ‘other half’.

Education and Career

Blackwell wanted more than anything to be accepted into one of the medical schools in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia she studied privately while attempting to open up opportunities for her to be accepted into a school. She faced multiple rejections simply because she was a woman and her intellectual status was considered inferior compared to her male counterparts.

She was accepted into the Geneva medical college in New York of 1847. The staff initially were challenged when presented with her application so they left the decision up to the 150 male students at that college. The vote had to be 100% unanimous and if it wasn't she would not get accepted. All 150 men voted for her to be a part of their school.

In 1849 Blackwell settled on taking her studies to Europe, then she visited Britain and Paris but her experiences there were no different than her experiences in the states. She was once again setback because her sex. While training under an obstetrician named Paul Dubois, he applauded her and implied that she would be the best obstetrician ever. Even after that she felt that the discrimmination of women in medicine was lessened in America compared to Europe so she moved back to New York and decided to open her own practice.

When Blackwell moved back she still faced struggles, she had very few patients but that changed when she, her sister and Dr. Marie Zakrzewska had grown her small dispensary into the “New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children.” There was a female dominated staff and the patient numbers doubled in size.

She would still often go to Europe in efforts to also set up a similar practice like her infirmary, that is when she became known as the first woman to have her name entered on the General Medical Council's medical register. Her “parallel project” was a success. She decided to move to Europe and there she established a women’s medical school in London with one of the former students at the medical infirmary in New York. Blackwell opened the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874 and after her health started to decline she retired from health care but continued to live a

n eventful life.

Advocacy for Women

Elizabeth delivered lectures and published The Laws of Life with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls which aided in the education of women. Many years after that, another book she published was dedicated to women in medicine called “ Medicine as a Profession For Women in 1860" . She continued to educate young girls in medicine and supported women in their careers by setting up a school in London, while being professor in London her main goal was to assist other women in the preparation of their licensing exams. Worked alongside other women in medicine like Mary Putnam Jacob, Sophia Jex-Blake,Elizabeth Garrett Anderson.

She worked to appeal the Contagious Disease Act. This act was passed to keep STD’s under control. This act allowed police officers to arrest women who were suspected to be prostitutes. The act forced those same women to be tested for an STD. in the 1800’s it was believed that only women could transmit sexual infections. Blackwell spent 17

years trying to put an end to this Act. In doing so, she pushed the idea that women should be declared equal ‘sexual passions’ as men. During her time many people believed the exact opposite and women had more consequences held against them compared to men for such behavior.

Later years

Elizabeth Retired in 1877 but still continued live and active life. She continued to help other women attain medical degrees and continued to be an activist in women's rights. In 1907 Elizabeth fell down a flight of stairs , leaving her paralyzed and almost completely mentally/ physically disabled her old age and accident limited her activities and also caused her health to decline. She later passed away in 1910 at the age at 89 years old.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/elizabeth-blackwell

https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/elizabeth-blackwell-1821-1910