Elizabeth Blackwell- Doctor

Born in England, Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) came with her family to settle in Ohio when she was 11 years old.

- Barbara Krasner

Her father was an abolitionist. He also believed in women's rights and encouraged Elizabeth to take up whatever career she wanted. At first, Elizabeth had no interest in becoming a doctor. She wanted nothing to do with the study of the body. She preferred history, so she became a teacher.

Then, a close friend who was dying told Blackwell that she had been too embarrassed to seek treatment from a male doctor. The friend might have been helped if there were women doctors. That got Blackwell thinking. She decided to overcome her fears and become a doctor.

In the mid-1840s, however, medical schools did not admit women. Blackwell applied to more than two dozen medical schools. She hoped that one of them would give her the opportunity she needed. She had to study on her own to prepare. She was rejected from every schoolexcept Geneva Medical College in upstate New York.