Elizabeth Blackwell

Over 35% of doctors today are women, but the first female doctor to earn a medical degree was this extraordinary women.

Group portrait of members of the Blackwell family on a dwelling porch, 1902 Dec. Blackwell Family Papers.

Written by Lahari Thota

If it weren’t for Elizabeth Blackwell, an imperative female figure in STEM, this push for representation and equality, despite not reaching it completely, would not be seen today.

     Blackwell was born in Bristol, England, on February 3rd, 1821. She had six other siblings, and her father, Samuel, was a sugar refiner and Quaker. Blackwell's sister, Emily Blackwell, would eventually follow in her footsteps to pursue medicine. When Blackwell was 11, her family decided to move to Cincinnati, Ohio. Unfortunately, Samuel Blackwell died merely six years after the move, leaving his family penniless during a time where money was scarce. To support their loved ones, Blackwell's older sisters and mother worked as teachers.

     It was later on that Blackwell recognized her interest in medicine. Her dying friend confided that perhaps her situation could have been improved if her physician was a female. Male physicians started out as apprentices under more knowledgeable doctors, and worse, there were only a few medical colleges, none of which accepted females. This did not stop a few women who simply became unlicensed physicians. Blackwell herself was able to be mentored under two Southern physicians while teaching abroad.  In 1847, she returned to Philadelphia and applied for various medical schools. She was rejected by every single one except for Geneva College, and even then the acceptance letter was a practical joke.

Blackwell’s New York Infirmary for Women and Children. Wallach Division Picture Collection.

     In college, Blackwell faced many hardships such as discrimination, exclusion from labs, and even being shunned and ostracized by townspeople for apparently defying her gender role in society. However, she continued to persevere and in 1849, graduated as the top of her class, earning respect from all those who demeaned her prior. Blackwell sought out further training in overseas hospitals (particularly in London) where she often took on midwife and nurse duties. While in Paris, she contracted an eye disease that left her blind in one eye and unable to ever become a surgeon. She began to emphasize hygienic habits, such as washing one’s hands frequently. 

     Blackwell eventually returned to New York in 1851, but was refused positions in hospitals and dispensaries due to sexual discrimination. However, she was able to open a small dispensary in 1853 with the help of her friends. Only four years later, with the assistance of her sister Emily and Dr. Marie E. Zakrzewska, the small clinic expanded into the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. This large clinic's mission was to provide women physicians with various job positions. Blackwell and her sister even trained nurses for Union hospitals during the Civil War.

     January of 1859 marked a historic event in medical history as Blackwell became the first woman to place her name on the British medical register. She went on to help organize the Women's Central Association of Relief and the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War in 1861. She mainly worked in selecting and training nurses. Blackwell opened a medical college in New York in the year 1868. However, she placed her sister in charge just a year later and instead traveled to London where she remained a professor of Gynecology in 1875. Blackwell also published myriad books including an infamous autobiography, Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women (1895). She also assisted in founding the National Health Society. Blackwell eventually retired in 1907 due to an injury and died three years later on May 31, 1910.

Pioneer Work In Opening The Medical Profession To Women. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

     Elizabeth Blackwell is known for her momentous medical contributions such as books, infirmaries, and a medical college, and for offering women physicians imperative opportunities that would have otherwise been nonexistent. She is the first woman in the United States to graduate from a medical school and will remain remembered as the first female doctor of medicine in present times, continuing to set an example for women of all ages to persevere and succeed.

Sources

"Biography: Elizabeth Blackwell." Biography: Elizabeth Blackwell, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/elizabeth-blackwell. 

"Elizabeth Blackwell." Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Sept. 1999, www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Blackwell.