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A essay about elizabeth blackwell
A essay about elizabeth blackwell
A essay about elizabeth blackwell
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In the present-day, many of our doctors are women, however, that has not always been the case. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor. She was the first female to graduate from medical school in the United States. She became a leader in public health activist during her life. Elizabeth impacted the 18th-19th century by becoming a doctor, inspiring others, and paving the way for other women. To begin with, Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England, February 3, 1821.She was the fourth of nine children. (Britannica) At the start, Elizabeth had no intention of going into medicine. It was only after a female friend of Elizabeth’s had gotten sick and remarked to her that she wished she had a female doctor to help her and that is when she began considering becoming a doctor herself. Since no woman could go to medical school, she had to learn …show more content…
In 1857, she closed the dispensary and opened the New York Infirmary for sick Women and Children, which has surgical patients. She used this hospital to help poor people seeking medical help as well as for a training facility for female medical and nursing students. The medical staff in the begin was Elizabeth and two sisters Emily and Marie Zakrzewska(biograph). This institution is still there today as the New York University Downtown Hospital. Elizabeth knew that women should receive their medical education alongside men in the normal medical schools that men were attending but she knew they were not welcoming to women students. Since the women who trained there were not able to gain admission to the male medical colleges, she was convinced to create her own women's medical college. That is just what she did, Blackwell was became ill so she gave up the practice of medicine in the late 1870s, but she kept her fight for women’s rights. She died in her home in Hastings, 1910 and left behind opportunities for women to become doctors that for generations to
Contrary to having doctors deliver babies today, midwives were called upon to deliver babies during the eighteenth century. There were many more midwives than there were doctors during that time. In addition, Martha served as a midwife, nurse, physician, mortician, pharmacist, and attentive wife simultaneously (40). Aside from being able to deliver babies, midwives were also highly experienced in medical care—they tended to wounds, diagnosed illnesses, and made medicine. Midwives were more accessible and abundant when compared to doctors—they did not require any formal training or education. When the medical field was underdeveloped, the midwives were the leading resource when it was related to medical conflicts.
One famous quote from Barbara Jordan is “If you’re going to play a game properly, you’d better know every rule .” Barbara Jordan was an amazing woman. She was the first African American Texas state senator. Jordan was also a debater, a public speaker, a lawyer, and a politician. Barbara Jordan was a woman who always wanted things to be better for African Americans and for all United States citizens. “When Barbara Jordan speaks,” said Congressman William L.Clay, “people hear a voice so powerful so, awesome...that it cannot be ignored and will not be silenced.”
Social medicine was important to the community in eighteenth century Hallowell. Female midwives were a part of a social network. This differed from the traditional way people thought of midwives. “In western tradition, midwives have inspired fear, reverence amusement, and disdain. They have been condemned for witch craft, eulogized for Christian benevolence, and caricatured for bawdy humor and old wives’ tales” (46). This view changed in the eighteenth century because midwives were starting to be seen as a necessary part of the medical community. Midwifes were used for most births during this time, and doctors were only summoned if there was a medical emergency that was out of the midwives medical capabilities. During the delivery of children relatives and neighbors would come together for a social gathering. The most prominent physicians of Hallowell, Maine were Daniel Cony, Samuel Colman, Benjamin Page, and Benjamin Vaughan (48). Physicians believed that midwives were an important part of the medical community. Male physicians relied on more studied mainstream ways to cure diseases. In contrast, Martha believed nature alone offered cures for illnesses. However, she was not ignorant to mainstream medicine and would rely on those cures if one of her family members were in
Elizabeth Stanton was born on the 12th of November 1815, in Johnstown New York. She was fortunate enough to enjoy a privileged life and grew up among the wealthy. The daughter of Daniel Cady, a prominent judge and Margaret Livingstone, she was the eighth of eleven children. Stanton received the best education available at the time for a young woman, attending Johnstown Academy for girls, where she studied Latin, Greek, mathematics, religion, science, French, and writing until the age of 16. After finishing her degree, Stanton married abolitionist Henry Stanton and gave birth to 7 children between 1842 and 1859. She died on October 26th, 1902.
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female physician in America, struggled with sexual prejudice to earn her place in history. She was born in Bristol, England on February 3, 1821 to a liberal and wealthy family. She was the third daughter in a family of nine children. Her father, Samuel Blackwell, believed in the value of education and knowledge and hired a governess for the girls, even though many girls were not educated in those days. In 1832, the family sugar cane plantation went bankrupt, forcing the family to move to America.
in 1815. In 1830 Elizabeth graduated from Jamestown Academy, and in 1833 she graduates from Troy Female Seminary. Elizabeth married abolitionist Henry Stanton in 1840, and had one son named Henry B. Stanton. In 1847, the Stantons moved from Boston to Seneca Falls. That is where she meets Susan B. Anthony, and her career as a slavery abolitionist and women's rights activist began.
Elizabeth Blackwell was notably one of the most influential people to both medicine and women’s rights. Although her most famous achievement was being the first woman to graduate from medical school, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell's accomplishments did not end there, she devoted her life to helping others-both in healing and in education, and also with the help of colleagues founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. She was one of the most influential women of her time.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born into a family of eleven on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown, New York. Elizabeth was passionate about gender equality from a small age. One of the main reasons Elizabeth became so passionate about women’s rights was from an encounter with her father. Since Elizabeth was little, she was aware of the fact that there were gender equality issues in society. Elizabeth’s brother had passed away and one night Elizabeth was sitting on her fathers lap and her father told her that he wished she were a boy. Hearing the statement infuriated Elizabeth and she wanted to do anything she could to prove to her dad that she could do all the same things her brother was capable of doing. She began to take upper level math and language classes, and would win competitions even though she was the only girl in the competition. It was very rare for women to be educated during this time period, but Stanton was considered lucky because she received a good education. Elizabeth married Henry B. Stanton. They had seven kids together. Her passion in women’s equality was rekindled when she was thirty-three years old. Elizabeth Stanton and her husband attended an anti slavery convention in London. During this convention the British excluded the women delegates which made Stanton livid and she knew she needed to take action immediately. She decided, with the help of other women, to hold a women’s right meeting.
The first female psychiatrists working the asylums were not were not as McGovern put it “movers and shakers” (541). These women faced constant discrimination in their work. Being viewed as less ambitious and incapable of performing as well as a man, female psychiatry, unsurprisingly, rarely had a position of authority. Male assistances received special training opportunities which in turn led them to be promoted while women were stuck in low paying positions. In 1881, Alice Bennett, one of the earliest females to be appointed “Female Physician”, found herself in a small controversy regarding surgery. Despite the fact that Bennett made great strides for the improvement of patient treatment in asylums, she faced brutal attacks from people who
Mary Eliza Mahoney was born May 7, 1845 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Smith, J, & Phelps, S, 1992) Mary Mahoney was the first African American professional nurse. She spent over 40 years as a private duty nurses going to sick people’s homes nursing them back to health. She was such a wonderful private duty nurse that after joining a nursing directory, Mary was called upon time after time by the families that hired her all over the country near and faraway. Mary Mahoney was a member of the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada now known as the American Nurses Association (ANA) since 1896. (Webster, Raymond B, 1999) She was also one of the first members of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) which was a minority nursing organizations that was focused on equality for African-American nurses comparable to that of non minority nurses. Mary was named chaplain of the organization and was later named a lifetime member. After her death on January 4, 1926 from breast cancer the National Association of Colored Graduates Nurses named an award in honor of Mary Eliza Mahoney, after the NACGN was disbanded in 1951 the American Nurses Association continued the Mary Eliza Mahoney award. (Webster, Raymond B, 1999)
She was old enough to be aware of what was happening around her, approximately a teenager. Allowing her to have been influenced and even participate in the second wave of feminism. Doctor Evans family was of good economic and social standing so that she could go and receive at least three degrees during that time. Her writing thus holds a little bit of her perspective throughout the pages. Doctor Evans was participated in feminist consciousness-raising groups that were common for the time. Feminist consciousness-raising groups sprung up in New York and Chicago and then quickly spread thanks to women such as Doctor Evans. Feminist consciousness-raising groups are sometimes considered the backbone of the second wave and one of the main organizing
Peter Zilahy once said,” You have to make choices even when there is nothing to choose from.” This quote vastly reflects the life of Elizabethan women for many reasons. The main reasons for this includes: life determinations- education , career , even the food on the table, was controlled by one thing, Wealth! Wealth controlled an immense part of people’s lives. Additionally, there were even fashion laws controlled by wealth. Furthermore, women’s rights were highly restricted during this era. Women did not live the same during this time.
However, women desired a higher education. Elizabeth Blackwell is a prime example of women’s fight for a medical degree, one of the first STEM environments available to women. In order to kick-start her education she wrote to all of the doctors that she knew, requesting advice and help. However, most of the doctors replied that they thought it impossible, that a woman would not be able to endure the rigors of a medical education, and that they feared the competition that women doctors would bring. Elizabeth persisted, finally making her way to Philadelphia, a city famous for its study in medicine, to stay with Dr. Elder, one of the few supporters of her education. Once here she continued writing letters and actually found many friends who agreed to support her cause, but unfortunately universities were not included in this list of friends. Elizabeth then pursued an education at the University of Geneva in New York where the Medical Faculty and students agreed to accept her. While at first the university cared about the press coverage that Elizabeth’s spot would bring, she eventually established her rightful place as a student there. Although she encountered some resentment among the wives of doctors and other people living in the small town, Elizabeth ...
At the young age of 38 she contracted the Crimean Fever and was bedridden for the remainder of her life. Nonetheless, she was still determined to improving health care and alleviating patients’ suffering. Later in life she published the Notes on Hospitals which focused on how to properly run a civilian hospital; she even aided the U.S. during its Civil War consulting with the North on how to best manage field hospitals. It was only a matter of time before her actions got her the recognition she deserved. Following her 90th birthday in May of 1910 she received a congratulatory message from King George as well as given the Merit of Honor by King Edward; the first women ever to be granted the Merit of
Being the second child out of five is hard enough, but Elizabeth also has many other things pressing on her. Elizabeth does not really fit the mold of a typical girl living in that era. She would rather curl up with a good book than worry about going to a ball. This kind of characteristic probably made her feel like an outcast, automatically creating a defensive wall