The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine

Janice P. Nimura’s The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine is a 2021 biography of Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell that chronicles their lives and achievements. As two of the first women in America to receive medical degrees, the Blackwell sisters defied the rigid gender norms of the 19th century and paved the way for future women to pursue careers in medicine. Nimura's writing highlights their struggles and triumphs, the broader societal impact of their work, and the complexity of their relationship. The book received critical acclaim and was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Biography.

This guide references the ebook edition by W. W. Norton & Company.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss racism and enslavement.

Summary

The Blackwell family moved from Bristol, England, to America in 1832. The family was progressive and advocated for education, temperance, and abolition, although Samuel's business in the sugar trade had links to slavery. After several moves, they settled in Cincinnati until Samuel died in 1838. In 1844, Elizabeth moved to Henderson, Kentucky, to be a schoolmistress. However, her beliefs clashed with the widespread slavery in the area, and she soon returned home. Upon her return, inspired by a conversation with a dying friend and the transcendentalist movement, Elizabeth decided to pursue medicine to prove that women could succeed in the field. She faced numerous rejections due to her gender but was admitted to Geneva Medical College in 1847. Despite initial skepticism at the college, Elizabeth's dedication earned her respect from some professors and peers. After her first successful term, she went to the Blockley Almshouse in Philadelphia to gain practical experience, and her documented observations led to a thesis on epidemic typhus. Elizabeth returned to Geneva College for her second term. Despite earning respect from her male classmates in the dissecting room, her presence outside the classroom remained controversial. However, this isolation also allowed her to focus on her studies. She maintained correspondence with her family and encouraged her sister, Emily, to join the medical field. Elizabeth graduated in January 1849 and completed her studies at the top of her class.

After graduation, Elizabeth traveled to Europe with her cousin Kenyon. In England, she reunited with her siblings Howard and Anna. She continued to Paris, where she enrolled at La Maternité, a maternity hospital. Despite the value of the obstetric experience she gained there, she contracted a severe eye infection from a newborn. She sought treatment at a water cure sanatorium, but it didn’t work, and her left eye was removed, ending her dreams of becoming a physician. However, she continued her medical education upon her return to London at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1851, Elizabeth returned to New York to establish a medical practice. Her progress on this was slow due to financial and professional issues, but her lectures on hygiene and child-rearing gained her a modest following. Her sister Marian supported her, while Emily faced repeated rejections from medical schools like Dartmouth College and Berkshire Medical Institution. With the help of Elizabeth's connections, Emily eventually attended lectures at Bellevue Hospital. She received tentative approval from Rush Medical College in Chicago but was ultimately barred from graduating due to societal pressures. She finally graduated from Cleveland Medical College in February 1854.

Emily then sailed to Europe to further her medical training. She went to Edinburgh to work with Dr. James Young Simpson. Despite witnessing some questionable medical practices by Simpson, she completed her training and returned to London before returning to New York. Elizabeth, meanwhile, adopted an orphan, Katharine Barry, also known as Kitty. She also shifted her focus to raising funds to open a women's hospital. Her efforts led to the opening of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children in 1857, primarily run by Marie Zakrzewska, a woman from Berlin who had previously worked with Elizabeth in her dispensary. Progress was slow, however, and Elizabeth temporarily relocated to England again. Practical support there also fell short, although when she again returned to New York, it was after becoming the first woman registered as a physician in Britain's Medical Register. Emily managed the New York Infirmary after Marie Zakrzewska left for a professorship in Boston.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell supported the Union by organizing the Women's Central Association for Relief, which helped with supplies and nurse training. However, they faced resistance from the rest of the male-dominated Sanitary Commission, and after sending a hundred trained nurses to the front lines, the sisters resigned. While they originally had no plans to establish a women's medical college, because of their changing priorities and the subpar quality of female graduates, they reconsidered and opened the Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary in 1868. In 1869, Elizabeth permanently moved to London, leaving Emily to lead the college, which celebrated its first graduation in 1870.

In England, Elizabeth aimed to mentor British female doctors but was often alienated by their attitudes and methods. She became focused on moral education and sexual propriety, and her rigid ideals put her at odds with contemporary science. Elizabeth settled in Hastings with her adopted daughter, Kitty, and remained active in moral reform organizations until her death. Emily managed the New York Infirmary and Woman's Medical College after Elizabeth's departure despite dealing with their mother's death and a fire in 1897. In 1899, Emily confirmed the college’s closure due to changes in the educational landscape and Emily's own advancing age. However, the infirmary remained open. Both sisters died in 1910, and a memorial service was held a year later at the New York Academy of Medicine to celebrate their contributions to medicine. Elizabeth was buried in Scotland, and Kitty was later interred with her, while Emily was buried on Martha's Vineyard.