EMILY BLACKWELL
Dr. Emily Blackwell, with her sister Elizabeth Blackwell and their colleague
Marie Zakrzewska, co-founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, the
first hospital run by women and the first dedicated to serving women and
children in the United States.
Emily Blackwell's famous sister Elizabeth Blackwell (who was the first woman in
America to earn a medical degree) had forged a path into medicine five years
earlier.
Dr. Emily Blackwell worked with her sister Elizabeth Blackwell to establish the
New York Infirmary for Women and Children, the first hospital for women in the
United States, and the Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary.
Emily Blackwell was born in 1826. The Blackwell family was said to have been a
stimulating and intellectual environment to grow up in. Her father, Samuel
Blackwell, was a reformer, lay preacher, and dissident. In 1832 he moved his
family from Bristol, England, to the United States, settling near Cincinnati.
Educated mostly at home, Emily Blackwell was described as painfully shy, but
inquisitive and intelligent. She was known to perform scientific experiments in
the Blackwell attic and became an amateur expert on the subject of birds and
flowers, mostly through extensive reading and observations made near the family's
home.
The fact that her famous sister Elizabeth Blackwell (who was the first woman in
America to earn a medical degree) had forged a path into medicine before her did
not make Emily's entry into the profession any easier. Her application for
admission to medical school was rejected by eleven schools simply because she
was a woman. Although she was accepted by the twelfth school, Rush Medical
College in Chicago, pressure from the Medical Society of Illinois led the school
to discontinue her studies at the end of her first year. She refused to give up,
and instead studied medicine privately for a time, attended clinical lectures in
New York City, and took teaching jobs in order to earn extra money while trying
to find a school that would admit her.
Although her older sister had warned her of the grim prospects women doctors
faced, Emily Blackwell was not deterred. She was finally accepted into Western
Reserve University's medical school in Cleveland, Ohio, where she earned her M.D.
degree in 1854.
Dr. Emily Blackwell's then traveled to Europe to continue her studies. First,
she went to Edinburgh, Scotland, to study for a year with Sir James Young
Simpson. She so impressed him that he recommended her to several of Europe's
most important clinics. As Simpson noted in a letter to Blackwell in 1891, he
had rarely met a young physician as well versed in literature, science, and
medical practice. Following a second year of clinical study and observation in
England, France, and Germany, Emily Blackwell returned to New York to work with
her sister.
In 1857 Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell, along with Marie Zakrzewska, opened the
New York Infirmary for Women and Children. As all three women knew from personal
experience, they were providing a valuable opportunity for women, as patients
and as fellow physicians. Although Elizabeth Blackwell was largely responsible
for founding the Infirmary, the credit for its survival and growth belongs
primarily to Emily Blackwell. After two years of unceasing work, the elder
Blackwell and Zakrzewska left to pursue opportunities elsewhere, leaving Emily
Blackwell to run the institution.
For the next forty years, Dr. Emily Blackwell took over the management of the
infirmary, overseeing surgery, nursing, and bookkeeping. Soon after taking over,
Dr. Blackwell traveled to Albany, the state capital, to convince the legislature
to provide the hospital with funds that would ensure long-term financial
stability. Her remarkable administrative skills gradually transformed an
institution housed in a rented, sixteen-room house into a hospital that grew so
steadily it was forced to continually move to ever-larger quarters. By 1874 the
Infirmary served over 7,000 patients annually.
Dr. Emily Blackwell, with her sister Elizabeth Blackwell and their colleague
Marie Zakrzewska, co-founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, the
first hospital run by women and the first dedicated to serving women and
children in the United States.
Emily Blackwell's famous sister Elizabeth Blackwell (who was the first woman in
America to earn a medical degree) had forged a path into medicine five years
earlier.
Dr. Emily Blackwell worked with her sister Elizabeth Blackwell to establish the
New York Infirmary for Women and Children, the first hospital for women in the
United States, and the Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary.
Emily Blackwell was born in 1826. The Blackwell family was said to have been a
stimulating and intellectual environment to grow up in. Her father, Samuel
Blackwell, was a reformer, lay preacher, and dissident. In 1832 he moved his
family from Bristol, England, to the United States, settling near Cincinnati.
Educated mostly at home, Emily Blackwell was described as painfully shy, but
inquisitive and intelligent. She was known to perform scientific experiments in
the Blackwell attic and became an amateur expert on the subject of birds and
flowers, mostly through extensive reading and observations made near the family's
home.
The fact that her famous sister Elizabeth Blackwell (who was the first woman in
America to earn a medical degree) had forged a path into medicine before her did
not make Emily's entry into the profession any easier. Her application for
admission to medical school was rejected by eleven schools simply because she
was a woman. Although she was accepted by the twelfth school, Rush Medical
College in Chicago, pressure from the Medical Society of Illinois led the school
to discontinue her studies at the end of her first year. She refused to give up,
and instead studied medicine privately for a time, attended clinical lectures in
New York City, and took teaching jobs in order to earn extra money while trying
to find a school that would admit her.
Although her older sister had warned her of the grim prospects women doctors
faced, Emily Blackwell was not deterred. She was finally accepted into Western
Reserve University's medical school in Cleveland, Ohio, where she earned her M.D.
degree in 1854.
Dr. Emily Blackwell's then traveled to Europe to continue her studies. First,
she went to Edinburgh, Scotland, to study for a year with Sir James Young
Simpson. She so impressed him that he recommended her to several of Europe's
most important clinics. As Simpson noted in a letter to Blackwell in 1891, he
had rarely met a young physician as well versed in literature, science, and
medical practice. Following a second year of clinical study and observation in
England, France, and Germany, Emily Blackwell returned to New York to work with
her sister.
In 1857 Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell, along with Marie Zakrzewska, opened the
New York Infirmary for Women and Children. As all three women knew from personal
experience, they were providing a valuable opportunity for women, as patients
and as fellow physicians. Although Elizabeth Blackwell was largely responsible
for founding the Infirmary, the credit for its survival and growth belongs
primarily to Emily Blackwell. After two years of unceasing work, the elder
Blackwell and Zakrzewska left to pursue opportunities elsewhere, leaving Emily
Blackwell to run the institution.
For the next forty years, Dr. Emily Blackwell took over the management of the
infirmary, overseeing surgery, nursing, and bookkeeping. Soon after taking over,
Dr. Blackwell traveled to Albany, the state capital, to convince the legislature
to provide the hospital with funds that would ensure long-term financial
stability. Her remarkable administrative skills gradually transformed an
institution housed in a rented, sixteen-room house into a hospital that grew so
steadily it was forced to continually move to ever-larger quarters. By 1874 the
Infirmary served over 7,000 patients annually.