Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in the United States to earn a medical degree. She became a lifelong advocate for female doctors.
Born in Bristol, England in 1821, Blackwell moved with her family to the United States at the age of 11. Her father Samuel made sure his daughters got a good education. When Samuel died in 1838, several of the Blackwell women became schoolteachers to provide for the family. Teaching was one of the only careers open to white, middle-class women during most of the 1800s.
After the family’s finances stabilized, Elizabeth looked for a more interesting line of work. Though she had felt “disgust” at the study of the body and physiology as a younger student, the experience of a sick female friend eventually changed her mind. Before she died, this friend told Elizabeth that if a “lady doctor” had cared for her, she would have suffered less. She encouraged Elizabeth to use her brains and energy to become a physician.
Blackwell wrote to several doctors she knew for advice on how to proceed. They all told her it would be impossible. Even if she could get admitted to a medical school, there was no way she would be able to graduate and practice. A few even advised her to disguise herself as a man. But the discouragement only made her more determined to succeed. “The idea of winning a doctor’s degree gradually assumed the aspect of a great moral struggle, and the moral fight possessed immense attraction for me,” she wrote. She saved her money from teaching and set out to win the fight.
Blackwell applied to more than a dozen medical schools. She received several rejections before finally, in October 1847, an acceptance letter arrived from Geneva Medical College in upstate New York. Although the male students mostly accepted her, she had to fight for access to a complete education. At first, she was excluded from observing surgical demonstrations. She had to insist that she be considered “a student simply,” not treated differently because of her sex.
Dr. Blackwell graduated in 1849 to great public interest and approval. In need of further training that was still not available in the United States, she studied for a few years in England and France. Unfortunately, her goal of becoming a surgeon was thwarted when she contracted an infection that caused her to lose her left eye.
In the early 1850s, Dr. Blackwell returned to the United States. She and two other female doctors—Dr. Marie Zakrzewska and Blackwell’s younger sister Dr. Emily Blackwell—established the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children (now New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital). They treated poor patients and provided medical training for women.
In her later years, Blackwell wrote several books on medicine and an autobiography. She continued to advocate for women in medicine until old age and poor health limited her activities. She died in England in 1910.
If you want a side dish with the big flavor of Texas, then Tex-Mex Potato Spirals are just what you're looking for!
- 4 large Idaho potatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
- 1/4 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup low fat finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 chopped scallions
- Slice the round bottoms off the potatoes so they sit flat. Place 2 wooden spoons parallel to each other and place a potato lengthwise between the handles. Make 8 crosswise cuts three-quarters of the way through the potato, stopping each time the knife hits the spoon handles. Repeat with the remaining potatoes. Rinse the potatoes thoroughly.
- Place the potatoes on a microwaveable plate. Cook on high about 7 minutes. Turn the potatoes over and microwave on high 7 more minutes, or until slightly soft.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Carefully brush the outside of the potatoes with oil, reserving the remaining oil for the topping. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place potatoes in a baking dish, then drizzle with barbecue sauce, letting the sauce drip between the slices.
- In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, cheese, garlic powder, and remaining olive oil. Top each potato with bread crumb mixture.
- Bake potatoes about 20 minutes, or until soft in the center and topping is crispy and brown. Top with chopped scallion.
***Feel free to use nonfat Cheddar cheese if you prefer.
