Emily Blackwell

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Emily Blackwell
BornOctober 8, 1826
Bristol, England
DiedSeptember 7, 1910(1910-09-07) (aged 83)
York, Maine, US
EducationWestern Reserve
Alma materCase Western Reserve University
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician
Book written by Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell

Emily Blackwell (October 8, 1826 – September 7, 1910) was a trailblazer in the 19th century, making numerous contributions in the field of medicine and women's rights. Emily was the second woman to earn a medical degree at what is now Case Western Reserve University, after Nancy Talbot Clark. In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Emily made major advancements in the medical scene, assisting in the start of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women[1] and Children and creating the Women's Central Association of Relief.[2] Emily, along with her sister Elizabeth Blackwell, had established the Women's Medical College in New York City.[3] Shortly after, Emily helped form the London School of Medicine for Women.[3]

Early life and education

Blackwell was born on October 8, 1826, in

Cincinnati, Ohio
.

Inspired by the example of her older sister, Elizabeth, Blackwell applied to study medicine at Geneva Medical College in Geneva, New York, from which her sister graduated in 1849, but was rejected. After being rejected by several other schools, she was finally accepted in 1853 by Rush Medical College in Chicago, where she studied for a year. However, in 1853, when male students complained about having to study with a woman, the Illinois Medical Society vetoed her admission. Eventually, she was accepted to the Medical College of Cleveland, Ohio, Medical Branch of Western Reserve University, earning her Doctor of Medicine in 1854 with honors.[5]

Group portrait of members of the Blackwell and Spofford families

At

coeducation
in medicine.) Western Reserve resumed admitting women in 1879, but did so only sporadically for five years. Admission of women at Western Reserve recommenced on a continuous basis in 1918.

After earning her medical degree, Blackwell pursued further studies in

William Jenner, and in Paris, Berlin, and Dresden.

The Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary [announcement, 1868–69]

Career

In 1857, Blackwell, along with her sister Elizabeth and

New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children.[4] With Blackwell's assistance, the infirmary was able to provide medical care to underserved women and children in the community. [4]

During the

Women's Central Association of Relief, which selected and trained nurses for service in the war. The WCAR had trained close to 4000 American women in order to distribute life-saving supplies across the United States. Between the years 1861 to 1863, the group had distributed over 470,000 articles of clothing and close to 300,000 bedding items. Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell and Mary Livermore also played an important role in the development of the United States Sanitary Commission.[7]
After the war, in 1868 the Blackwell sisters established the Women's Medical College in New York City. For 30 years Emily served as a professor for over 300 women in studies of obstetrics and gynecology before co-ed medical schools were a common practice, and in 1869, when Elizabeth moved to London to help form the London School of Medicine for Women, became dean of the college. In 1876 it became a three-year institution, and in 1893 it became a four-year college, ahead of much of the profession. By 1899 the college had trained 364 women doctors.

Blackwell and Cushier's house in Montclair, NJ

From 1883, Blackwell lived with her partner Elizabeth Cushier, who also served as a doctor at the infirmary.[8] Although they never married, when Emily had turned 44, she adopted a baby named Nanny.[9] Blackwell and Cushier retired at the turn of the century. Blackwell had viewed her retirement as an opportunity to focus her efforts on the expansion of social formalities by addressing more broad social issues and pushing for continuous societal change.[10] Following Emily's retirement in 1900, the infirmary still stands and does excellent work under a new name, the NYU downtown hospital.[1] After traveling abroad in Europe for a year and a half, they spent the next winters at their home in Montclair, New Jersey, and summers in York Cliffs, Maine.[11] She also frequently traveled to California and parts of Southern Europe for her health. Emily was able to see her sister Elizabeth one final time in 1906 before the eldest Blackwell fell down a flight of stairs and never fully recovered and ended up passing in May 1910.[1] Emily Blackwell died due to enterocolitis on September 7, 1910, in York Cliffs, Maine, a few months after her sister Elizabeth's death in England.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Emily Blackwell". History of American Women. 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  2. ^ "Women's Central Association of Relief During the Civil War". jocelyngreen.com. 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  3. ^ a b "Elizabeth Blackwell". britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  4. ^ a b c "Dr. Emily Blackwell." Retrieved: October 23, 2013.
  5. ^ Kelly, Howard A.; Burrage, Walter L. (eds.). "Blackwell, Emily" . American Medical Biographies . Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Company.
  6. ^ "EASCFA Exhibitions". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  7. ^ "Women of the U.S. Sanitary Commission". History of American Women. 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  8. ISBN 978-0-618-05697-2
    .
  9. ^ "All About Emily Blackwell, A Medical Pioneer". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  10. ^ "Emily Blackwell | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  11. ^ Faderman (2000), p. 289
  12. ^ "Dr. Emily Blackwell Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. September 9, 1910. Retrieved 2007-06-21. One of Founders of First Women's Hospital In America.

Further reading

External links
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