On this date (23 January), in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from a medical school in the United States. Born in Bristol, England, in 1821, she and her family moved to New York and then to Ohio in 1832.
The Blackwells were active Quakers and supported the anti-slavery movement and the women’s rights movement with great fervor. Elizabeth was the third of nine children; and even though the family had some means, her father was only able to afford sending her brothers to school. He did, however, provide for Elizabeth’s education at home. In her autobiography (1895), Dr. Blackwell wrote that she was initially repelled by the thought of studying medicine: “I hated everything connected with the body, and could not bear the sight of a medical book… My favourite 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.” Initially, then, she pursued a career in teaching.
Dr. Blackwell claimed that she began her pursuit of medical studies after a close friend who was dying suggested she would have been spared her worst suffering if her physician had been a woman. Of course, medical schools were not open to women at that time. Undaunted, she studied medicine in the personal librarys’ of physician friends in order to be better prepared for medical school. She applied to all the schools in New York and Philadelphia and at least a dozen more in New England.
1n 1847, Geneva Medical College in western New York accepted her application for matriculation; sort of. They placed her placement to a vote of the student body and required a 100% favorable retrun. The students, thinking it a hoax, “played along” and promised her “gentlemanly treatment.” Their bluff was called, she was admitted and graduated. In 1853, she returned to London and in 1858, under a similar twist of fate, became the first woman to be listed on the General Medical Council’s medical register. The Medical Act of 1858, while not specifically recognizing women doctors, did require recognition of medical doctors trained at foreign institutions. Ha-za!
- Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell US postage stamp
Dr. Blackwell trained many nurses during the American Civil War and, along with her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell, opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and a medical college for women. In addition to providing medical training for women, they provided medical care for the poor.
May I escape the shame, inadequacy, self-judgment and self-doubt and embrace what my training has taught me. May I trust that my love is as needed as my knowledge. May I remember in me the limitations of humankind. May I be open to know my darkness and be true to what light I have. May I be used as a blessing and a friend to life. Amen.
