Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell | |
---|---|
Born | Bristol, England | 3 February 1821
Died | 31 May 1910 Hastings, England | (aged 89)
Nationality | British and American |
Education | Geneva Medical College |
Occupation |
|
Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 1821 – 31 May 1910) was a British and American physician, notable as the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the United Kingdom.[1] Blackwell played an important role in both the United States and the United Kingdom as a social reformer, and was a pioneer in promoting education for women in medicine. Her contributions remain celebrated with the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal, awarded annually to a woman who has made a significant contribution to the promotion of women in medicine.[1]
Blackwell was not initially interested in a career in medicine.[1] She became a schoolteacher in order to support her family. This occupation was seen as suitable for women during the 1800s; however, she soon found it unsuitable for her. Blackwell's interest in medicine was sparked after a friend fell ill and remarked that, had a female doctor cared for her, she might not have suffered so much.[1] Blackwell began applying to medical schools and immediately began to endure the prejudice against her sex that would persist throughout her career. She was rejected from each medical school she applied to, except Geneva Medical College in New York, in which the male students voted in favor of Blackwell's acceptance, albeit as a joke.[2][3] Thus, in 1847, Blackwell became the first woman to attend medical school in the United States.[1]
Blackwell's inaugural thesis on typhoid fever, published in 1849 in the Buffalo Medical Journal and Monthly Review, shortly after she graduated,[4][5] was the first medical article published by a female student from the United States. It portrayed a strong sense of empathy and sensitivity to human suffering, as well as strong advocacy for economic and social justice.[4] This perspective was deemed by the medical community as feminine.[4]
Blackwell founded the
Early life
Elizabeth was born on 3 February 1821, in
In 1832, the Blackwell family emigrated from Bristol, England, to New York because Samuel Blackwell had lost their most profitable sugar refinery in a fire.
The family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio a few years later. When Blackwell was 17, her father died, leaving the family with little money.
Early adulthood
The Blackwells' financial situation was unfortunate. Pressed by financial need, the sisters Anna, Marian and Elizabeth started a school, The Cincinnati English and French Academy for Young Ladies, which provided instruction in most, if not all, subjects and charged for tuition and room and board. The school was not innovative in its education methods, but provided a source of income for the Blackwell sisters.[9] Blackwell' was less active in her abolitionism during these years, likely due to her responsibilities running the academy.[7]
In December 1838, Blackwell converted to
Channing's arrival renewed Blackwell's interests in education and reform. She worked at intellectual self-improvement: studying art, attending various lectures, writing short stories and attending various religious services in many denominations (
In 1844, with the help of her sister Anna, Blackwell procured a teaching job that paid $1,000 (~$31,407 in 2022) per year in Henderson, Kentucky. Although she was pleased with her class, she found the accommodations and schoolhouse lacking. What disturbed her most was that this was her first real encounter with the realities of slavery. "Kind as the people were to me personally, the sense of justice was continually outraged; and at the end of the first term of engagement I resigned the situation."[10] She returned to Cincinnati half a year later.[11]
Education
Pursuit of medical education
Once again, through her sister Anna, Blackwell procured a job, this time teaching music at an academy in Asheville, North Carolina, with the goal of saving the $3,000 necessary for her medical school expenses. In Asheville, Blackwell lodged with the respected Reverend John Dickson, who had been a physician before he became a clergyman. Dickson approved of Blackwell's career aspirations and allowed her to use the medical books in his library to study. During this time, Blackwell soothed her own doubts about her choice and her loneliness with deep religious contemplation. She also renewed her antislavery interests, starting a slave Sunday school that was ultimately unsuccessful.[7]
Dickson's school closed down soon after opening, and Blackwell moved to the residence of Reverend Dickson's brother, Samuel Henry Dickson, a prominent Charleston physician. In 1846, she began teaching at a boarding school in Charleston run by a Mrs. Du Pré. With the help of Samuel Dickson's brother, Blackwell inquired into the possibility of medical study via letters, with no favorable responses. In 1847, Blackwell left Charleston for Philadelphia and New York, with the aim of personally investigating the opportunities for medical study. Blackwell's greatest wish was to be accepted into a Philadelphia medical school.[11]
My mind is fully made up. I have not the slightest hesitation on the subject; the thorough study of medicine, I am quite resolved to go through with. The horrors and disgusts I have no doubt of vanquishing. I have overcome stronger distastes than any that now remain, and feel fully equal to the contest. As to the opinion of people, I don't care one straw personally; though I take so much pains, as a matter of policy, to propitiate it, and shall always strive to do so; for I see continually how the highest good is eclipsed by the violent or disagreeable forms which contain it.[10]
Upon reaching Philadelphia, Blackwell boarded with Dr. William Elder and studied anatomy privately with Dr. Jonathan M. Allen as she attempted to enroll in any medical school in Philadelphia.[7] She was met with resistance almost everywhere. Most physicians recommended that she either go to Paris to study or take up a disguise as a man to study medicine. The main reasons offered for her rejection were that (1) she was a woman and therefore intellectually inferior, and (2) she might actually prove equal to the task, prove to be competition, and that she could not expect them to "furnish [her] with a stick to break our heads with." Out of desperation, she applied to twelve "country schools."
Medical education in the United States
In October 1847, Blackwell was accepted to Geneva Medical College in Geneva, New York. The dean and faculty, usually responsible for evaluating an applicant for matriculation, initially were unable to make a decision due to Blackwell's gender. They put the issue up to a vote by the 150 male students of the class with the stipulation that if one student objected, Blackwell would be turned away. The young men voted unanimously to accept her, whilst simultaneously treating her application as a joke.[13][14]
While at school, Blackwell was looked upon as an oddity by the townspeople of Geneva. She also rejected suitors and friends, preferring to isolate herself. In the summer between her two terms at Geneva, she returned to Philadelphia, stayed with Dr. Elder, and applied for medical positions in the area to gain clinical experience. The Guardians of the Poor, the city commission that ran
On 23 January 1849, Blackwell became the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.[15][16][17] The local press reported her graduation favorably, and when the dean, Dr. Charles Lee, conferred her degree, he stood up and bowed to her.[18]
Medical education in Europe
In April 1849, Blackwell decided to continue her studies in Europe. She visited a few hospitals in Britain and then went to Paris. In Europe, she was rejected by many hospitals because of her sex. In June, Blackwell enrolled at La Maternité; a "
On 4 November 1849, when Blackwell was treating an infant with
Feeling that the prejudice against women in medicine was not as strong in the United States, Blackwell returned to New York City in 1851 with the hope of establishing her own practice.[7]
Career
Medical career in the United States
In the United States, Blackwell faced sexism, but received support from some media publications, including the New-York Tribune.[11] Her practice floundered at first, a situation some historians attribute to false accusations that all women doctors were abortion care providers.[19][20] In 1852, Blackwell began delivering lectures and published The Laws of Life with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls, her first work, a volume about the physical and mental development of girls that concerned itself with the preparation of young women for motherhood.[7]
In 1853, Blackwell established a small
Civil War efforts
When the
Medical career at home and abroad
Blackwell made several trips to Britain to raise funds and to try to establish a parallel infirmary project there. In 1858, due to a clause in the Medical Act of 1858 that recognised doctors with foreign degrees practicing in Britain before 1858, she became the first woman to have her name entered on the General Medical Council's medical register (1 January 1859).[24] She also became a mentor to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson during this time. By 1866, nearly 7,000 patients were being treated per year at the New York Infirmary, and Blackwell was needed back in the United States. The parallel project collapsed, but in 1868, a medical college for women adjunct to the infirmary was established. It incorporated Blackwell's innovative ideas about medical education – a four-year training period with much more extensive clinical training than previously required.[7]
At this point, a rift occurred between Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell. Both were headstrong, and a conflict over the management of the infirmary and medical college ensued.[7] Elizabeth, feeling slightly alienated by the United States women's medical movement, left for Britain to try to establish medical education for women there. In July 1869, she sailed for Britain.[7]
In 1874, Blackwell established a women's medical school in London with Sophia Jex-Blake, who had been a student at the New York Infirmary years earlier. Blackwell had doubts about Jex-Blake and thought that she was dangerous, belligerent, and tactless.[25] Nonetheless, Blackwell became deeply involved with the school, and it opened in 1874 as the London School of Medicine for Women, with the primary goal of preparing women for the licensing exam of Apothecaries Hall. Blackwell vehemently opposed the use of vivisections in the laboratory of the school.[7]
After the establishment of the school, Blackwell lost much of her authority to Jex-Blake and was elected as a lecturer in midwifery. She resigned this position in 1877, officially retiring from her medical career.[7]
While Blackwell viewed medicine as a means for social and moral reform, her student Mary Putnam Jacobi focused on curing disease. At a deeper level of disagreement, Blackwell felt that women would succeed in medicine because of their humane female values, but Jacobi believed that women should participate as the equals of men in all medical specialties.[26]
Time in Europe – social and moral reform
After moving to Britain in 1869, Blackwell diversified her interests, and was active both in social reform and authorship. She co-founded the National Health Society in 1871. She may have perceived herself as a wealthy gentlewoman who had the leisure to dabble in reform and in intellectual activities, being financially supported by the income from her American investments.[7] Her friend, Barbara Bodichon helped introduce Blackwell into her circles. She traveled across Europe many times during these years, in England, France, Wales, Switzerland and Italy.[7]
Blackwell was most active in social reform from 1880 to 1895, after her retirement from medicine. Blackwell was active in a number of reform movements, mainly moral reform, sexual purity, hygiene and medical education, but also
Blackwell believed that the
Blackwell campaigned heavily against licentiousness,
The book was controversial, being rejected by 12 publishers, before being printed by Hatchard and Company. The proofs for the original edition were destroyed by a member of the publisher's board and a change of title was required for a new edition to be printed.
Personal life
Friends and family
Blackwell was well connected, both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. She exchanged letters with
However, Blackwell had a very strong personality and was often quite acerbic in her criticism of others. Blackwell had an argument with Florence Nightingale after Nightingale returned from the
Kitty Barry
In 1856, when Blackwell was establishing the New York Infirmary, she adopted
Blackwell provided for Barry's education. She even instructed Barry in gymnastics as a trial for the theories outlined in her publication, The Laws of Life with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls.
Barry stayed with Blackwell all her life. After Blackwell's death, Barry stayed at Rock House before moving to
Private life
None of the five Blackwell sisters ever married. Elizabeth thought courtship games were foolish early in her life, and prized her independence.[7] When commenting on a young men trying to court her during her time in Kentucky, she said: "...do not imagine I am going to make myself a whole just at present; the fact is I cannot find my other half here, but only about a sixth, which would not do."[11] During her time at Geneva Medical College, she also rejected advances from a few suitors.[11]
There was one slight controversy, however, in Blackwell's life related to her relationship with Alfred Sachs, a 26-year-old man from Virginia. He was very close with both Kitty Barry and Blackwell, and it was widely believed in 1876 that he was a suitor for Barry, who was 29 at the time. The reality was that Blackwell and Sachs were very close, so much so that Barry felt uncomfortable being around the two of them. Sachs was very interested in Blackwell, then 55 years old. Barry was reportedly in love with Sachs and was mildly jealous of Blackwell.[35] Blackwell thought that Sachs lived a life of dissipation and believed that she could reform him. In fact, the majority of her 1878 publication Counsel to Parents on the Moral Education of the Children was based on her conversations with Sachs. Blackwell stopped correspondence with Sachs after the publication of her book.[7]
Last years and death
In her later life, Blackwell was still relatively active. In 1895, she published her autobiography, Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women. It sold fewer than 500 copies.[7] After this publication, Blackwell gradually retreated from public life and spent more time traveling. She visited the United States in 1906, took her first and last car ride.[7]
In 1907, while holidaying in
Legacy
The British artist Edith Holden, whose Unitarian family were Blackwell's relatives, was given the middle name "Blackwell" in her honor.
Library resources about Elizabeth Blackwell |
By Elizabeth Blackwell |
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Influence
After Blackwell graduated in 1849, her thesis on typhoid fever was published in the Buffalo Medical Journal and Monthly Review.[4][5]
In 1857, Blackwell opened the
In 1874, Blackwell worked together with Florence Nightingale, Sophia Jex-Blake, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Emily Blackwell, and Thomas Henry Huxley to create the first medical school for women in England, London School of Medicine for Women, for which she acted as the Chair of Hygiene.[6]
Blackwell settled in England in the 1870s and continued working on expanding the profession of medicine for women, influencing as many as 476 women to become registered medical professionals in England alone.
Honors
Two institutions honour Elizabeth Blackwell as an alumna:
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the current name of Geneva College, the founding institution of Geneva Medical College.
- The State University of New York Upstate Medical University, which took over Geneva Medical College in 1871 and was acquired in 1950 by the State University of New York[39]
Since 1949, the American Medical Women's Association has awarded the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal annually to a female physician.[40] Hobart and William Smith Colleges awards an annual Elizabeth Blackwell Award to women who have demonstrated "outstanding service to humankind."[41]
In 1973, Elizabeth Blackwell was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.[42]
The artwork The Dinner Party features a place setting for Elizabeth Blackwell.[43]
In 2013 the University of Bristol launched the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research.[44]
On 3 February 2016, National Women Physicians Day was declared a National Holiday[45] championed by Physician Moms Group [www.Mypmg.com] after publishing a study in JAMA exposing that the majority of women physicians report still facing discrimination due to their gender and/or being a mother.[46] The National Holiday pays tribute to Dr. Blackwell of the role she has played influencing women physicians in present-day and their strive for equity and equality.
On 3 February 2018, Google honoured her as a doodle in recognition of her 197th birth anniversary.[47]
In May 2018, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the former location of the
Hobart and William Smith Colleges erected a statue on their campus honoring Blackwell.[6]
A 2021 book by Janice P. Nimura, The Doctors Blackwell, chronicles the life story of Elizabeth Blackwell and her sister Emily Blackwell.[51]
In 2023,
Works
Library resources about Elizabeth Blackwell |
By Elizabeth Blackwell |
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- 1849 The Causes and Treatment of Typhus, or Shipfever (thesis)
- 1852 The Laws of Life with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls (brochure, compilation of lecture series) pub. by George Putnam
- 1856 An appeal in behalf of the medical education of women[54]
- 1860 Medicine as a Profession for Women (lecture published by the trustees of the New York Infirmary for Women)
- 1864 Address on the Medical Education of Women[55]
- 1878 Counsel to Parents on the Moral Education of their Children in Relation to Sex (eight editions, republished as The Moral Education of the Young in Relation to Sex)
- 1881 "Medicine and Morality" (published in Modern Review)
- 1887 Purchase of Women: the Great Economic Blunder
- 1871 The Religion of Health (compilation of lecture series to the Sunday Lecture Society, three editions)[56][57][58]
- 1883 Wrong and Right Methods of Dealing with Social Evil, as shown by English Parliamentary Evidence[59]
- 1888 On the Decay of Municipal Representative Government – A Chapter of Personal Experience (Moral Reform League)
- 1890 The Influence of Women in the Profession of Medicine[60]
- 1891 Erroneous Method in Medical Education etc. (Women's Printing Society)
- 1892 Why Hygienic Congresses Fail
- 1895 Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women – Autobiographical Sketches (Longmans, reprinted New York: Schocken Books, 1977)[61]
- 1898 Scientific Method in Biology
- 1902 Essays in Medical Sociology, 2 vols (Ernest Bell)
See also
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain
- James Barry, possibly the first female bodied doctor (assigned female at birth but living as a man)
- List of first female physicians by country
- Rebecca Lee Crumpler, first African American female physician
- State University of New York Upstate Medical University
References
- ^ ISBN 9781909609785.
- ^ Boomer, Lee. "Life Story: Elizabeth Blackwell".
- ^ Krasner, Barbara (2018). "Elizabeth Blackwell: Doctor". Cobblestone. 39: 20 – via EBSCO Collection.
- ^ JSTOR 44440963.
- ^ PMID 35374372.
- ^ S2CID 220006798.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-405-14106-5.
- ^ Mary Wright, Elizabeth Blackwell of Bristol: The First Woman Doctor (Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 87, 1995)
- ^ a b Elizabeth Blackwell, Diary, 19–21 December 1838 (Blackwell Family Papers, Library of Congress).
- ^ a b Blackwell, Elizabeth (1895). Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women: Autobiographical Sketches. London and New York: Longmans, Green, and Co. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g Blackwell, Elizabeth (22 July 1895). "Pioneer work in opening the medical profession to women". London and New York, Longmans, Green, and co. – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Brooklyn Museum: Elizabeth Blackwell". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ a b Curtis, Robert H. (1993). Great Lives: Medicine. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
- ^ Smith, Stephen. Letter. "The Medical Co-education of the Sexes". New York Church Union. 1892.
- ISBN 9780691191171.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ "8 most admired and notable British scientists of all time". Headline Bulletin. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- . Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- ^ "Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell's Graduation: An Eye-Witness Account by Margaret Munro De Lancey" (PDF). Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2003. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ Nimura, Janice P. (25 January 2021). "The Intertwining Lives of a Notorious Abortionist and America's First Woman Doctor". Jezebel. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "The Hard Rise And Long Fall Of Elizabeth Blackwell, The First Woman MD". Women You Should Know. 12 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Elizabeth Blackwell". postalmuseum.si.edu.
- ^ a b c d Elizabeth Blackwell. Blackwell, along with Emily Blackwell and Mary Livermore, played an important role in the development of the United States Sanitary Commission. Letters to Barbara Bodichon. 29 January 1859. 25 November 1860. 5 June 1861 (Elizabeth Blackwell Collection, Special Collections, Columbia University Library).
- ISBN 978-0-674-01677-4.
- ^ Moberly Bell, Enid (1953). Storming the Citadel: The Rise of the Woman Doctor. London: Constable & Co. Ltd. pp. 25.
- ^ Elizabeth Blackwell. Letter to Samuel C. Blackwell. 21 September 1874. (Blackwell Family Papers, Library of Congress).
- PMID 11634502.
- ^ Blackwell, Elizabeth (1892). Why Hygienic Congresses Fail. London: G. Bell.
- A Medical Address on the Benevolence of Malthus, Contrasted with the Corruptions of Neo-Malthusianism. London: T. W. Danks & Co.
- ^ Blackwell, Elizabeth (1890). Counsel to Parents on the Moral Education of their Children. New York: Brentano's Literary Emporium.
- ^ Kitty Barry Blackwell. Letter to Alice Stone Blackwell. 24 March 1877. (Blackwell Family Papers, Library of Congress)
- ^ Elizabeth Blackwell. Letter to Emily Blackwell. 23 January 1855. (Blackwell Family Papers, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College)
- ^ Elizabeth Blackwell. Letter to Emily Blackwell. 1 October 1856. (Blackwell Family Papers, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College)
- ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 4078–4079). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
- ^ Blackwell, Alice Stone. Tribute to Kitty Barry. Vineyard Gazette. 19 June 1936. (Blackwell Family Papers, Library of Congress)
- ^ Kitty Barry Blackwell. Letter to Alice Stone Blackwell. 24 March 1877. (Blackwell Family Papers, Library of Congress).
- ^ "Argyll Mausoleum, Elizabeth Blackwell". Archived from the original on 30 December 2014.
- .
- S2CID 220006798.
- ^ Howe, Cara A. "Subject Guides: Women in Medicine and Science at Upstate: Elizabeth Blackwell MD". guides.upstate.edu. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
- ^ "Elizabeth Blackwell Letters, circa 1850–1884". Columbia University Libraries. Archived from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ "The Blackwell Award". Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ "Blackwell, Elizabeth". National Women’s Hall of Fame.
- ^ Place Settings. Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved on 6 August 2015.
- ^ "Institute launch". University of Bristol. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "National Women Physicians Day – February 3". National Day Calendar. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- PMID 28492824.
- ^ Smith, K.N. "Saturday's Google Doodle Honors Elizabeth Blackwell". Forbes. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ a b "Jill Platner, Cindy Sherman, and More Women of Noho Gather to Honor America's First Female Doctor". 15 May 2018.
- ^ "First female doctor honored in Greenwich Village". 15 May 2018.
- ^ "Blackwell Collection". jillplatner.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
- ^ Morgan, Timothy Prickett (12 October 2023). "Nvidia Picks Up The Pace For Datacenter Roadmaps". The Next Platform - In-depth coverage of high-end computing at large enterprises, supercomputing centers, hyperscale data centers, and public clouds. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ^ "NVIDIA RTX 50 "Blackwell": nuovi SM, 3nm e prestazioni raddoppiate" [NVIDIA RTX 50 "Blackwell": new SMs, 3nm and doubled performance]. Evosmart.it (in Italian). 10 April 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ^ Collins, Stacy B.; Haydock, Robert; Blackwell, Elizabeth; Blackwell, Emily; Zakrzewska, Maria E. (1856). An appeal in behalf of the medical education of women. New York: New York Infirmary for Women.
- OCLC 609514383.
- OCLC 926090108.
- ^ Blackwell, Elizabeth (1878). The religion of health. Edinburgh: John Menzies.
- OCLC 752626730.
- LCCN 76378843.
- ^ Blackwell, Elizabeth (1890). The influence of women in the profession of medicine. Baltimore: Unknown.
- ^ Blackwell, Elizabeth (1895). Pioneer work in opening the medical profession to women : autobiographical sketches. London: Longmans, Green, and Co.
Further reading
- Atwater, Edward C (2016). Women Medical Doctors in the United States before the Civil War: A Biographical Dictionary. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. OCLC 945359277.
- Baker, Rachel (1944). The first woman doctor: the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D. J. Messner, Inc., New York, OCLC 848388
- Howard, Carol (2018). "Elizabeth Blackwell" Archived 8 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine Dictionary of Unitarian Universalist Biography.
- Mesnard, Élise-Marie (1889). Miss E. Blackwell et les femmes médecins [Miss Elizabeth Blackwell and the Women of Medicine] (in French). Bordeaux: Impr. de G. Gounouilhou. .
- Morantz, Regina Markell (1982). "Feminism, Professionalism, and Germs: The Thought of Mary Putnam Jacobi and Elizabeth Blackwell". American Quarterly. 34 (5): 459–478. PMID 11634502.
- Morantz-Sanchez, Regina (1992). "Feminist Theory and Historical Practice: Rereading Elizabeth Blackwell". History and Theory. 31 (4): 51–69. JSTOR 2505415.
- ISBN 978-0393635546.
- Ross, Ishbel (1944). Child of Destiny. New York: Harper.
- Wilson, Dorothy Clarke (1970). Lone woman: the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor. Little Brown, Boston, OCLC 56257
- Wright, Mary, Elizabeth Blackwell of Bristol: The First Woman Doctor (Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 87, 1995)
External links
- Elizabeth Blackwell Collection on New York Heritage Digital Collections
- Women in Science
- An online history at the National Institutes of Health, including copies of historical documents
- An online biography Archived 16 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine of Elizabeth Blackwell, with links to more articles on Blackwell and others in her famous family, plus links to many resources on the Net
- Biography from the National Institute of Health
- Elizabeth Blackwell at the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Archives
- Elizabeth Blackwell Resources Available in Hobart and William Smith Colleges Archives
- Chronological Bibliography of Selected Scholarly Works by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
- Elizabeth Blackwell at winningthevote.org
- Papers, 1835–1960. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
- Michals, Debra. "Elizabeth Blackwell". National Women's History Museum. 2015.
- "Obituary of Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D." British Medical Journal. BMJ. 1 (2581): 1523–1524. 18 June 1910. S2CID 220006798.
- Works by Elizabeth Blackwell at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by or about Elizabeth Blackwell at Wikisource
- Texts on Wikisource:
- "Blackwell, Elizabeth". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
- Smith, Charlotte Fell (1912). "Blackwell, Elizabeth". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- "Blackwell, Elizabeth". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
- Works related to Woman of the Century/Elizabeth Blackwell at Wikisource
- Thompson Cooper (1884) "Blackwell, Elizabeth," Men of the Time (eleventh edition).
- Finding aid to Elizabeth Blackwell letters at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.