It was by sheer force of intellect, and of the sympathetic imagination born of intellectual perception, that Elizabeth Blackwell divined for women the suitableness of an occupation whose practical details were, to herself, intrinsically distasteful. Among all the pioneer group of women physicians, hers chiefly deserves to be called the Record of an Heroic Life. For with her, the struggle with bitter and brutal prejudices in the world was not sustained by the keen and instinctive enthusiasm for medicine, which has since carried hundreds of women over impossibilities. Rather was the arduousness of the struggle intensified by a passionate sensitiveness of temperament, which, under a cold exterior, rendered her intensely alive to the hardships of the social obloquy and ostracism which she was destined to encounter in such abundance.
Those accustomed to value ideas according to their intrinsive power, as shown by their originality and their fruitful result, should admit that there was real grandeur in this thought: the thought that the entire sex might be lifted upon a higher intellectual plane, by means of a practical work, for which, at the moment, not half a dozen people in America discerned the opportunity. “The thorough education of a class of women in medicine will exert an important influence upon the life and interests of women in general.” “Medicine is so broad a field, so closely interwoven with general interests, and yet of so personal a character in its individual applications, that the coöperation of men and women is needed to fulfill all its requirements.” “It is not possible or desirable to sanction the establishment of an intermediate class” [of midwives.][[50]]
So much more broad and sound were the views of this self-taught Cincinnati school-teacher,[[51]] than of the kind-hearted but short-sighted men, who in Boston were then trying to establish the Female Medical Education Society!
It was in 1845 that the plan of studying medicine became with Elizabeth Blackwell a settled resolution; and she was thus the first person on the American continent to whom such an idea did come.
It is worthy of note, that the originality of the main idea was sustained by an almost equal originality of view in regard to the true nature of a medical education.
Only a few years ago an eminent New York professor[[52]] showed that it was both practicable, and a common thing to do, for men to graduate, even from New York schools, after only ten months attendance upon lectures, of which the second five months was a mere repetition of the first: and without ever having seen a sick person. If this were true of New York,—where, after all, it is possible to do otherwise,—it may be imagined what would be true of the multitude of small schools scattered through the country, where the resources for either clinical or didactic instruction were confessedly inadequate. And if this were true in 1880 the status of 1850 may be divined.
It was at this time that Elizabeth Blackwell recognized that preparation for medical practice demanded the sanction of test examinations at a respectable school; not a few months, but years of study; and above all abundant clinical experience. Rather than accept as final the indorsement of little schools established ad hoc, or exclusively for women, she applied to be admitted as student at twelve medical schools throughout the country, and among these found one, the school at Geneva, N. Y., to grant her request. The faculty referred the matter to the students, and they decided to invite the courageous applicant. Poor, dependent entirely upon her own exertions, and with others more or less dependent upon her, she nevertheless found means to devote five years to the study of her profession, of which two were spent in Europe, at that time a rare extravagance.[[53]] Uninstructed or informed by the laws and customs of the entire country that attendance on didactic lectures was sufficient to justify a medical diploma, and hospital training was superfluous,—her native common sense perceived the absurdity of this theory, and left no stone unturned to secure such fragments of hospital training as were obtainable for her in either hemisphere. During the term of study at Geneva, she utilized a vacation to seek admittance to the hospital of the Blockley almshouse at Philadelphia, and obtained it by skillful manipulation of the opposing political influences which prevailed among the managers of the institution.[[54]] After graduating at Geneva in 1849, the first woman in America or of modern times to receive a medical diploma, Miss Blackwell immediately went to Europe, and by exceptional favor succeeded in visiting some of the hospitals of both London[[55]] and Paris. In Paris, moreover, she submitted for several months to the severe imprisonment of the great school for midwives, La Maternité.
Emily Blackwell was refused admission to the Hobart College at Geneva, which had graduated her sister; but was allowed, for one year, to study at the Rush College of Chicago. For this permission, however, the college was censured by the State Medical Society, and the second term was therefore refused to the solitary female student. She was, however, enabled to complete her studies at Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated thence in 1852. During one of her vacations, she obtained permission to visit in Bellevue Hospital, where Dr. James Wood was just initiating the system of regular clinical lectures. After graduation, Emily Blackwell also went to Europe, and had the good fortune to become the private pupil of the celebrated Sir James Simpson of Edinburgh. She remained with him for a year, and when she left he warmly testified to her proficiency and competence for the work she had undertaken. The testimonial is worth quoting entire:
“My Dear Miss Blackwell:
“I do think that you have assumed a position for which you are excellently qualified, and where you may, as a teacher, do a great amount of good.