Dc. Elizabeth Blackwell
Full Name: Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
Date of Birth: February 3, 1821
Place of Birth: Counterslip, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Died: May 31, 1910
Place of Death: Hastings, Sussex, England
Classification: Scientists & Thinkers
Date of Birth: February 3, 1821
Place of Birth: Counterslip, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Died: May 31, 1910
Place of Death: Hastings, Sussex, England
Classification: Scientists & Thinkers
(Elizabeth Blackwell, ca. 1855 The Schlesinger
Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University)
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Bristol, England in 1821, to Hannah Lane and Samuel Blackwell. Both for financial reasons and because her father wanted to help abolish slavery, the family moved to America when Elizabeth was 11 years old. Her father died in 1838. As adults, his children campaigned for women's rights and supported the anti-slavery movement.
She graduated from New York's Geneva Medical College, in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell becaming this way the first woman in America to earn the M.D. degree. She supported medical education for women and helped many other women's careers. By establishing the New York Infirmary in 1857, she offered a practical solution to one of the problems facing women who were rejected from internships elsewhere but determined to expand their skills as physicians.
(Anatomical lectures at the Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 16, 1870)
Concise Biography Timeline:
Date of Birth: Born on February 3, 1821
Place of Birth: Bristol, England
Parents: Father: Samuel Blackwell
Mother: Hannah Blackwell
Background Facts, Information & Ancestry : The Blackwell family were very religious Quakers.
1821 This timeline starts on February 3, 1821 when Elizabeth was born in Bristol in England. Her wealthy parents were Hannah and Samuel Blackwell. She was the third of nine children. All of the children, both the boys and the girls were given a good education.
1832 Unable to pay his taxes Samuel Blackwell moved his family to New York, where her father owned a sugar refinery business. Influenced by their Quaker beliefs the family became active in the abolitionist movement
1838 The Blackwell family moved to Cincinnati. Samuel died in Cincinnati, leaving the family without financial resources
1839 Elizabeth took a teaching job in Kentucky to make money to pay for medical school
1845 She moved to North Carolina where she read medicine in the home of Dr. John Dickson as no medical school would admit a woman
1847 She managed to acquire a place and attended Geneva College in New York studying medicine. She was treated with sheer disgust by many people who believed that medicine was a totally unsuitable career for a woman
1849 January 11, 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, graduating at the top of her class.
1849 She was banned from practicing in most hospitals so she moved to Paris, France to train at La Maternitè
1850 During her training in Paris she contracted a terrible eye disease called purulent ophthalmia which resulted in having her eye removed and replaced by a glass eye
1851 Elizabeth Blackwell returned to New York but still faced the prejudice against female doctors in the medical profession
1857 May 12, 1857 - Elizabeth with her sister Emily and Dr.Marie Zakrzewska, founded their own infirmary, named the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children
1861 Abraham Lincoln elected President of the US and the Civil War starts. During the period of the Civil War Elizabeth Blackwell trained many women to be nurses who were of great help to the Union Army
1863 Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation
1865 The Civil War ends. Lincoln is assassinated. The 13th amendment to Constitution abolishes slavery
1868 Due to the good reputation she acquired during her work in the Civil War Elizabeth Blackwell was able to establish a Women's Medical College at the Infirmary to train women, physicians, and doctors
1869 In 1869 she returned to England and with Florence Nightingale opened the Women's Medical College. Elizabeth Blackwell taught at the London School of Medicine for Women. She was the first female physician and doctor in the UK Medical Register.
1875-1907 She became a Professor of Gynaecology at the London School of Medicine for Women from 1875 to 1907.
1910 Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell died May 31, 1910 at her home in Hastings in the South coast of England. Her cause of death is unknown. She was 89 years old.
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