Elizabeth blackwell fun facts for kids

Here, the family became involved in the abolitionist movement. The family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father died when she was 17, leaving the family with very little money. Elizabeth and her sisters opened a school to earn an income. Later, Elizabeth took a teaching job in Kentucky. She was deeply troubled by the slavery she saw there and left after just one term.

She went to work as a teacher once again, this time in North Carolina, to earn money for medical school. Every medical school she applied to turned her down because she was a woman. Some doctors suggested she disguise herself as a man to get in. During the summers between college terms, Elizabeth worked at a clinic for the poor in Philadelphia.

Some male doctors refused to work with her and would even walk out when she was on duty. Her experience there was similar to her experience in America; she was rejected by many hospitals because of her sex. She gained much medical experience through his mentoring and training. By the end of the year, Paul Dubois, the foremost obstetrician in his day, had voiced his opinion that she would make the best obstetrician in the United States, male or female.

On 4 Novemberwhen Blackwell was treating an infant with ophthalmia neonatorum, she accidentally squirted some contaminated fluid into her own eye and contracted the infection. She lost sight in her left eye, requiring its surgical extraction and leaving her without hope of becoming a surgeon. After a period of recovery, she enrolled at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London in She regularly attended James Paget 's lectures.

She made a positive impression there, although she did meet opposition when she tried to observe the wards. Feeling that the prejudice against women in medicine was not as strong there, Blackwell returned to New York City in with the hope of establishing her own practice. Blackwell did manage to get some media support.

Elizabeth blackwell fun facts for kids

Inshe began delivering lectures and published The Laws of Life with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girlsher first work, a volume about the physical and mental development of girls that concerned itself with the preparation of young women for motherhood. InBlackwell established a small dispensary near Tompkins Square. She also took Marie Zakrzewskaa Polish woman pursuing a medical education, under her wing, serving as her preceptor in her pre-medical studies.

InDr. Marie Zakrzewska, along with Blackwell and her sister Emily, who had also obtained a medical degree, expanded Blackwell's original dispensary into the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children. Women served on the board of trustees, on the executive committee and as attending physicians. The institution accepted both in- and outpatients and served as a nurse's elizabeth blackwell fun facts for kids facility.

The patient load doubled in the second year. When the American Civil War broke out, the Blackwell sisters aided in nursing efforts. Blackwell sympathized heavily with the North due to her abolitionist roots, and even went so far as to say she would have left the country if the North had compromised on the subject of slavery. The male physicians refused to help with the nurse education plan if it involved the Blackwells.

Blackwell made several trips back to Britain to raise funds and to try to establish a parallel infirmary project there. Inunder a clause in the Medical Act of that recognised doctors with foreign degrees practicing in Britain beforeshe was able to become the first woman to have her name entered on the General Medical Council's medical register 1 January She also became a mentor to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson during this time.

Bynearly 7, patients were being treated per year at the New York Infirmary, and Blackwell was needed back in the United States. The parallel project fell through, but ina 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.

At this point, a rift occurred between Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell. Both were extremely headstrong, and a power struggle over the management of the infirmary and medical college ensued. 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 Julyshe sailed for Britain. InBlackwell established a women's medical school in London with Sophia Jex-Blakewho 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. Nonetheless, Blackwell became deeply involved with the school, and it opened in as the London School of Medicine for Womenwith 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. 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 inofficially retiring from her medical career. 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. After leaving for Britain inBlackwell diversified her interests, and was active both in social reform and authorship.

She co-founded the National Health Society in She perceived herself as a wealthy gentlewoman who had the leisure to dabble in reform and in intellectual activities — the income from her American investments supported her. She was rather occupied with her social status, and her friend, Barbara Bodichon helped introduce Blackwell into her circles.

Her greatest period of reform activity was after her retirement from the medical profession, from to Blackwell was interested in a great number of reform movements — mainly moral reform, hygiene and medical education, but also preventive medicine, sanitation, eugenicsfamily planning, women's rights, associationism, Christian socialism, medical ethics and antivivisection — none of which ever came to real fruition.

She switched back and forth between many different reform organisations, trying to maintain a position of power in each. Blackwell had a lofty, elusive and ultimately unattainable goal: evangelical moral perfection. All of her reform work was along this thread. She even contributed heavily to the founding of two utopian communities: Starnthwaite and Hadleigh in the s.

She believed that the Christian morality ought to play as large a role as scientific inquiry in medicine and that medical schools ought to instruct students in this basic truth. She also was antimaterialist and did not believe in vivisections. She did not see the value of elizabeth blackwell fun facts for kids and thought it dangerous. She believed that bacteria were not the only important cause of disease and felt their importance was being exaggerated.

Blackwell was well connected, both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. She exchanged letters with Lady Byron about women's rights issues and became very close friends with Florence Nightingalewith whom she discussed opening and running a hospital together. She was close with her family and visited her brothers and sisters whenever she could during her travels.

However, Blackwell had a very strong personality and was often quite acerbic in her criticism of others, especially other women. Blackwell had a falling out with Florence Nightingale after Nightingale returned from the Crimean War. Nightingale wanted Blackwell to turn her focus to training nurses and could not see the legitimacy of training female physicians.

After that, Blackwell's comments upon Florence Nightingale's publications were often highly critical. She was also highly critical of many of the women's reform and hospital organisations in which she played no role, calling some of them "quack auspices". Blackwell also did not get along well with her more stubborn sisters Anna and Emily, or with the women physicians she mentored after they established themselves Marie ZakrzewskaSophia Jex-Blake and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson.

Among women at least, Blackwell was very assertive and found it difficult to play a subordinate role. Diary entries at the time show that she adopted Barry half out of loneliness and a feeling of obligation, and half out of a utilitarian need for domestic help. Her practice specialized in treating women and children, and she gained a reputation for her compassionate care and dedication to improving the health and well-being of her patients.

Recognizing the need for women to receive proper medical education and training, Elizabeth Blackwell, along with her sister Emily and Dr. This institution served as a medical college and hospital where women could receive medical education and training. Elizabeth Blackwell was a strong advocate for cleanliness, hygiene, and public health practices in medicine.

Her medical training in Europe had exposed her to advancements in hygiene that were not widely practiced in the U. She integrated these practices into her own medical approach, emphasizing the importance of sanitation, proper hygiene, and preventing the spread of infections. Her work contributed to improvements in healthcare practices and had a positive impact on public health.

She believed that women should have access to education and professional opportunities on par with men. Her experiences as a woman in a male-dominated field inspired her to speak out against gender discrimination and work towards achieving greater equality for women in all aspects of society. This institution aimed to provide women in England with the opportunity to receive medical education and training.

Her writings covered subjects such as hygiene, reproductive health, and social issues. In addition to her written work, Blackwell also delivered lectures on health-related topics, advocating for informed decision-making and proper medical practices. Her determination in the face of adversity and her dedication to breaking down barriers continue to serve as a source of motivation for individuals who aspire to challenge norms and contribute to positive change.

Elizabeth Blackwell remained active in medical education, advocacy, and reform throughout her life. She passed away on May 31,in Hastings, England, leaving behind a legacy that continues to influence the fields of medicine, education, and gender equality.