Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in America to earn a medical degree, graduating from New York’s Geneva Medical College in 1849.
Blackwell was also a trailblazer for women, promoting the education of women in medicine.
She was born in Bristol, England, in 1821, and her father, Samuel Blackwell, was a sugar refiner. He also was well-known for advocating the abolition of slavery. In 1832, the Blackwell family moved to America, eventually ending up in Cincinnati.
Blackwell was initially repelled by the idea of studying medicine, but she was drawn to the profession after a close friend who was dying of a painful disease, possibly ovarian cancer, suggested a female doctor would have made her treatment far more comfortable.
Once Blackwell decided to pursue medicine, many people were skeptical about whether she would be able to get into medical school because she was a woman. Every school refused her application — until Geneva College, a small school in rural New York, sent a letter of acceptance. As it turned out, the acceptance letter was intended as a practical joke.
In 1849, Blackwell graduated first in her class.
She continued her training at several hospitals in London and Paris, but found most doctors were not willing to accept her.
In 1851, she returned to America and continued to face resistance. With help from her sister and fellow doctor Emily Blackwell, who worked as a surgeon, and physician Marie Zakrzewska, Blackwell established the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children in 1857, an institution that built a strong reputation that would last for more than a century.
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