Elizabeth Blackwell Essay, Research Paper

Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell was a great woman. She was the first woman to receive a Medical degree in America. She opened an Infirmary for women and children in New York.Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3 1821 in Bristol, England. But was raised differently then most children at this time. See women were treated differently than men. Women were given little education and were not allowed to hold important positions. They were not allowed to be doctors, bankers, or lawyers, and all the money they made had to go to the men in the family. Since women couldn’t become Doctors their were few around. Many women would lose their babies because there was no medicine around. This happened to Elizabeth’s mom. Her parents wanted a big family but almost every time her mom gave birth she would lose the baby. This made made Elizabeth sad. Elizabeth was determined that when she grew up she would become a doctor, so that she could help babies and children to stay healthy. She was going to study and work hard to reach her goal.

Elizabeth studied very hard. She read every book in her house and was the teacher’s best pupil. She never got bored of learning or trying new things; and years later she became a medical student. All the young men teased her in her class, but she learned to deal with it.

For a long time the Blackwell’s ran a sugar business. It was very successful, until one day the business started to loose money and they had to move to America; and there she would be able to go to a better school. So, on August 1832 they left to America on a ship. The trip was very hard for them it was like a nightmare. More than 200 people were crowded aboard the ship, and most of them brought cattle, rat-infested blackness below the deck of the ship. Even first-class passengers like the Blackwell’s were miserable. There were outbreaks of cholera that caused unsanitary living conditions, and claimed many people’s lives aboard the ship. This made Elizabeth even madder and more eager to become a doctor. She and her family were very lucky to survive this trip.

In October 1832, the Blackwells settled in a house in New York. They became involved in anti-slavery activities and held meetings in their house. At this time no medical school had ever accepted a female student, in fact no women had ever been except into college. But Elizabeth set her mind on changing this; she was going to be a doctor. The family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and within a few months of moving their Mr. Blackwell had died. Then one day the family physician decided to show Elizabeth how to apply to a medical school. She learned fast and for the next few years Elizabeth continued to teach and study books about medicine and at the same time she applied for one medical school after another. Then in October 1847 she received an acceptance letter from Geneva Medical College in New York State. She was very proud of herself. She was able to do it; she reached her goal. The next months and years were the hardest for her. All the teachers hated her; they wouldn’t even let her in their classrooms. Fellow students mocked her, insulted her, and even threaten her. But she was determined to complete her studies and graduate with high honors, and she did. She was at last the first woman doctor in the world.

Elizabeth Blackwell gave her whole life on fighting ignorance and illnesses. She opened a hospital and clinic called the New York Infirmary for Women and children. She also helps to train nurse for duty in the Civil War. She wrote many books on health and the prevention of diseases. She died in 1910, at the age of 89. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell showed many people why some things were so important like medicine and humanity.