Elizabeth Blackwell | OtterKnow Kids Encyclopedia

Early Life

Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821, in Bristol, England. She grew up in a large family with eight brothers and sisters, and her father believed that girls deserved the same education as boys. When Elizabeth was eleven, her family moved to the United States and settled in New York City. After her father died, Elizabeth and her sisters opened a small school to support the family. A dying friend once told Elizabeth that her suffering would have been easier if her doctor had been a woman, and that conversation changed Elizabeth’s life forever.

The Fight to Become a Doctor

Elizabeth decided to become a doctor at a time when no woman in the United States had ever earned a medical degree. She applied to twenty-nine medical schools, and every single one rejected her because she was a woman. Finally, Geneva Medical College in New York accepted her in 1847, but only because the students had voted on her application as a joke, never expecting she would actually come. Elizabeth ignored the laughter and worked harder than anyone in her class. In January 1849, she graduated first in her class, becoming the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.

Opening Doors for Women

After graduating, Elizabeth traveled to Europe for more training, where she lost sight in one eye due to an infection. She returned to New York and found that many hospitals and doctors refused to work with a woman physician. In 1857, she co-founded the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, a hospital run entirely by women doctors that served poor families. Later, she opened a medical college for women at the infirmary so that other women could follow in her footsteps. Elizabeth also became the first woman to have her name placed on the British Medical Register, opening doors for women doctors in England too.

Preventing Illness

Elizabeth was not only a skilled doctor but also a strong believer in preventing illness before it started. She taught her patients about hygiene, clean water, and healthy living, ideas that were ahead of her time. She wrote books and gave lectures about public health, arguing that keeping people healthy was just as important as treating the sick. Her approach helped lay the groundwork for the field of preventive medicine.

Legacy

Elizabeth Blackwell spent her later years in England, where she continued to teach and write about medicine and women’s rights. She passed away on May 31, 1910, at the age of eighty-nine. Because of her courage, thousands of women have been able to pursue careers in medicine. Today, the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal is awarded each year to a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to medicine. Her life proves that one determined person can change the rules for everyone who comes after.