Celebrating Elizabeth Blackwell - Upstate Medical Alumni ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Celebrating Eliza
On the occasion of her bicentenary, Upstate Medical
University has launched a campaign to honor the
legacy of one of its most famous graduates: America’s
first female doctor.
T
he first woman in At the portrait unveiling,
America to receive Upstate President Carlyle
a medical degree, Jacobsen, PhD, surprised
Elizabeth Blackwell, attendees with the announc
MD, was born on ement of a campus street to be
February 3rd, 1821. named after Blackwell. Constru
She graduated first in her class ction of Elizabeth Blackwell
in 1849 from Geneva Medical Street—located across from the
College, which is the prede- hospital entrance and between
cessor of what is known today East Adams and Harrison streets
as Upstate Medical University. in Syracuse—was part of the site
In 2021, Upstate is commemo- planning for the downtown
rating Dr. Blackwell’s 200th hospital, which now runs
birthday with a series of Second-year medical students Sruti Akula and Neelima between the hospital parking
events and the launch of the Dosakayala celebrate Blackwell's 200th birthday (photo garage on one side, and Jacobsen
Elizabeth Blackwell 200th taken pre-COVID). Hall, the Campus Activities
Anniversary Legacy Campaign. celebrates the 200th anniversary of Building, and Health Services
The fundraising effort is intended her birth as a platform to honor an on the other.
to build upon Upstate’s efforts to American icon and support future The College also started a lecture
celebrate her life and contributions students who share her passion.” series in Blackwell’s name, held
and will support the commissioning To categorize Blackwell as a every February. Mary Voorhees, MD,
of a sculpture of Blackwell for the trailblazer is an understatement. assistant professor of pediatrics, gave
University grounds and the estab- In the 1840s, the idea of a woman the first Elizabeth Blackwell Day
lishment of an Elizabeth Blackwell pursuing medicine was unthinkable. Lecture back in 1964.
Scholarship for medical students. Nonetheless, it wasn’t until 1964 that This year, due to the pandemic,
“Today, more than half the Upstate first began recognizing its the Blackwell Lecture has been
students at American medical schools, pioneering female physician. Patricia postponed to September. In February,
including Upstate, are women. That is Numann, MD ’65, one of 15 female Upstate sponsored an interview on its
due at least in part to the bravery and students in the entire College of award-winning radio show Health
intellect of Elizabeth Blackwell, who Medicine at the time, was among a Link on Air with Janice Nimura,
opened the door for women in the group of female students, faculty, and author of The Doctors Blackwell: How
medical profession. We are proud to alumni who conceived of the idea to Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine
have her among our alumni ranks,” honor Blackwell. “We raised $500 for to Women and Women to Medicine. The
says Paul Norcross, executive director Joe Kozlowski to paint her portrait, widely-heralded book, published in
of the Upstate Medical Alumni which was more than a semester’s January, tells the unlikely story of
Foundation. “This fundraising effort tuition in those days,” she says. Elizabeth Blackwell and her younger
8 UPSTATE MEDICAL ALUMNI JOURNAL | SPRING 2021
abeth Blackwell
COURTESY OF SCHLESINGER LIBRARY ON THE HISTORY OF WOMEN IN AMERICA, RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE
sister Emily, who both I don’t think any of them
became pioneering female spent much time sitting in
physicians. classrooms, but they all read
In the interview, avidly and discussed what
Nimura said she spent they read. Education and
five years writing the book, intellectual pursuit were
which included a research of paramount importance,”
visit to Geneva, New York, she says.
to walk the streets and view As a young person,
the buildings that Elizabeth Elizabeth became interested
did while in medical school. in the writings of Margaret
According to Nimura, Fuller, a journalist and
Elizabeth was largely women’s rights advocate
imprinted by her upbring who wrote Woman in the 19th
ing. Born in Bristol, England, Century. Fuller argued that
she and her nine siblings “women could do anything
came to the United States that men did, it was just a
with their parents as matter of talent and toil,
children, settling in the not gender,” says Nimura.
frontier town of Cincinnati, “Elizabeth had a healthy
Ohio. Her father was self-esteem and saw herself
an abolitionist and sugar Daguerreotype portrait of Elizabeth Blackwell as someone who could
refiner, whose life’s goal embody this idea—find a way
FROM ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
was to make sugar from to prove that women could
sugar beets without slave do anything men could do—
labor. Unfortunately, he and medicine turned out to be
died shortly after their the path she chose as sort of a
arrival, leaving his large graphic way of making this
family struggling to make point, not necessarily to be a
a living. His five daughters healer or because she was
received a clear message: passionate about biology.”
having a husband was no For the time, it was a
guarantee of security. None profoundly eccentric choice.
of the five Blackwell sisters Medical schools in the United
ever married and two of the States did not admit women.
Blackwell sons married After being rejected by 29
prominent feminists of the medical schools, Blackwell
day, Lucy Stone and Antoi- was accepted by Geneva
nette Brown. Medical College, but only
All nine children because the faculty put it
received the same educa up to a student vote, and as
tion, a combination of a practical joke, the 150 male
schools and tutors that students unanimously voted
The first building of Geneva Medical College, the Middle
Nimura describes as Building, stands between Geneva Hall on the right and Trinity to admit her to their ranks. No
“patchwork but passionate. Hall on the left. one thought it was a joke when
UPSTATE MEDICAL ALUMNI JOURNAL | SPRING 2021 9
COURTESY OF THE MECHANICAL CURATOR COLLECTION. BRITISH LIBRARY
she graduated at the top advocate Mary Edwards
of her class and the dean Walker, MD, blues
bowed to her at gradu- musician Libba Cotton,
ation. and the Syracuse Jerry
But earning her Rescue Memorial.
medical degree was “The statue will be
easy compared with seen by anyone entering
what came next. Not Weiskotten Hall, and
only would no one hopefully, will be the
hire her, but when first in a sculpture
she started her own garden with other
Blackwell’s story owes partly to
practice, Blackwell struggled to gain note-worthy alumni,” says Numann.
timing. “With the inauguration of
patients. Women wealthy enough to The Legacy Fund also supported
our first female vice president, I think
choose their own doctors did not trust the creation of a commemorative
it’s the right moment for redefining a
a female physician. Together with her exhibit on Elizabeth Blackwell,
heroine in our imaginations,” she says.
younger sister Emily, who she had sponsored by the Health Science
F
encouraged to pursue medicine five or the Upstate community Library and curated by Cara Howe,
years after her, Blackwell founded the today, Blackwell represents the assistant director of archives and
New York Infirmary for Indigent institution’s mission to improve special collections (see companion
Women and Children. The clinic, health through education, biomedical story).
A
which also served as a nurse’s training research and patient care and its
s a counterpoint to her
facility, was funded by “charitable core values, including innovation,
interview with Janice
donations from wealthy people who respect, diversity and inclusion.
Nimura about Elizabeth
liked the idea of a woman doctor “Elizabeth Blackwell is the most
Blackwell, HealthLink on Air host
serving the poor, but didn’t neces- recognized woman physician in the
Amber Smith also interviewed current
sarily want to be consulting one world. As her alma mater, I believe
students Sruti Akula ’23 and Neelima
themselves,” says Nimura. Later, that she should be visible daily and
Dosakayala ’23, who have been
the sisters started their own medical honored with the best tributes we
involved with activities surrounding
school, the Women’s Medical College have to offer,” says Dr. Numann.
the 200th birthday commemoration,
of the New York Infirmary, to provide The centerpiece of that effort is to
about their experiences as female
women with access to the best establish an Elizabeth Blackwell, MD,
medical students today .
medical education available. By the Scholarship, which will be used to
“If I could speak to her today,
end of the 19th century, new medical support students who share Black-
I would definitely thank her,” says
schools such as Cornell and Johns well’s resilience, passion, and service
Akula. “As a female in the field,
Hopkins were admitting women to the indigent and to population
I’m fortunate not to really feel any
and the College closed in 1899. health. According to Norcross, the goal
difference from my male colleagues.”
In 1869, Blackwell returned to is to raise enough funds to create an
“Not only was she a pioneer in
England, where she worked with endowment that will fund a full annual
being the first, but she set a foundation
Florence Nightingale and four others scholarship. “Elizabeth Blackwell is a
for other women to follow,” adds
to establish the first medical school major figure in medical history. As her
Dosakayala. “In addition to fighting
for women in England, the alma mater, we want the scholarship
for women, she also fought against
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
London School of Medicine in her name to be appropriate to her
racial inequity. I thank her for starting
for Women. By the time stature,” he says.
the work and I’m proud to be able to
Blackwell died in 1910, And in an effort to honor
continue it.” n
there were around 9,000 Blackwell in a public way, Upstate
female physicians in the has commissioned sculptor Sharon To contribute to the Elizabeth
United States, many of BuMann to create a life-size bronze Blackwell Legacy Campaign,
whom studied at the sculpture of Blackwell as a 26-year-old please contact Paul Norcross at
Women’s College for medical student for the Weiskotten norcrosp@upstate.edu or visit
Medicine or trained at the New Courtyard. A native Central New https://medalumni.upstate.edu/
York Infirmary for Women. Yorker, BuMann has previously elizabeth-blackwell.
With her book climbing bestseller created well-known public sculp-
lists, Nimura says the interest in tures of surgeon and women’s rights
10 UPSTATE MEDICAL ALUMNI JOURNAL | SPRING 2021
“It Shall Be the Effort of My Life”
The Work and Words of
Elizabeth Blackwell, MD
Steady, Uphill Work
T
o commemorate the 200th anniversary
P
of the birth of Elizabeth Blackwell, the reviously a student of the metaphysical, Elizabeth
Health Sciences Library Archives and needed to discover if she could overcome the
Special Collections has launched an exhibit repulsion she felt for the corporeal nature of
medicine. Her first exposure to anatomical studies was
focusing on her life and legacy—the triumphs,
shepherded by a Dr. Allen who, knowing of her aversion,
challenges, and sacrifices made by this pioneer helped her to see the artistry of the body, igniting a
in the history of medicine. newfound appreciation for the aesthetics of the subject.
According to Cara Howe, assistant director, With this initial hurdle surmounted, Elizabeth sent letters
of inquiry to medical schools in Philadelphia and New
archives and special collections, the exhibit
York. Invariably, she received rejections with repeating
was assembled from Upstate’s own small themes; either women were not physically able to
collection, as well as research conducted at the withstand the rigors the education and training required,
Library of Congress and the Schlesinger Library or it was considered immoral for them to have intimate
knowledge of the body. Most especially, the idea of a
at Harvard University, which both have large
woman receiving anatomical training along-side men
repositories of Blackwell family papers. She was unconscionable.
also drew heavily from Blackwell’s autobiog- When her letter of acceptance finally came, from a
raphy, Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical small school in Upstate New York, she had no idea that
her admittance was actually the product of a practical joke.
Profession to Women.
The faculty of Geneva College of Medicine, not wanting to
“I really wanted to include her own words for refuse her entrance outright, had put the question of her
this exhibit,” says Howe. “Many of the secondary
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
resources tend to all quote the same content from
her, the same quotes repeated. I wanted to spend
some time with Dr. Blackwell’s words and her
memoir was a really wonderful source.”
Howe believes Blackwell’s legacy to the
institution cannot be overstated. “To claim the
first woman doctor as an alumna of our insti-
tution really helps set the stage for current
diversity and inclusion initiatives,” she says.
“It demonstrates a strong commitment to that
that reaches back to the earliest years.”
THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE EXHIBIT:
Diploma awarded to Elizabeth Blackwell, MD. Geneva
College of Medicine.
UPSTATE MEDICAL ALUMNI JOURNAL | SPRING 2021 11
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
admittance to the student body, assuming the young men “I therefore obtained
would balk at the idea of studying along-side a woman. a complete list of all
The students, assuming the application could only be a the smaller schools
hoax, unanimously voted to admit Elizabeth. of the Northern
To their surprise, the product of their joke arrived in States…and sent
November 1847 to begin her studies. Though the citizens in application for
of Geneva gave her a wide berth and suspicious stares, admission to twelve
she found her classmates to be ultimately accepting of her of the most promising
presence and respectful of her person. Her self-contained institutions, where
demeanor and commitment to her studies soon won the full courses of
respect of the faculty. When one of her greatest supporters, instruction were
Dr. James Webster, tried to dissuade her from attending given under able
anatomy lectures with the rest of the class, she sent a letter professors. The result was awaited with much anxiety...
that was roundly applauded by the group and cemented At last, to my immense relief (though not surprise, for
her presence in the front-row for all demonstrations. failure never seemed possible), I received the following
When she graduated at the top of her class on January 23, letter from the medical department of a small university
1849, the valedictory address, delivered by Dean Charles town in the western part of the state of New York.”
Lee, exalted Elizabeth as a novelty. Despite proof that a Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women:
woman could fulfill the requirements of a medical course Autobiographical Sketches by Elizabeth Blackwell (1895)
of study, even those who witnessed it first-hand were not
M
prepared to agree that it was anything more than a fluke. edical education of this era was sparse at best,
with the American Medical Association being
“…I commenced my formed in 1847 to address the inconsistent and
FROM ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
anatomical studies in the ineffective education most medical students received.
private school of Dr. Allen. Attendance at lectures for 16 weeks was required, two
This gentleman by his years in a row, with some preliminary years of study under
thoughtful arrangements the guidance of a practitioner. If a student managed to
enabled me to overcome scrape together some observations in between terms, that
the natural repulsion to these was likely to be their only exposure to a real patient before
studies generally felt at the receiving their diploma.
outset. With a tact and
delicacy for which I have “Knowing very little of practical medicine, I finally
always felt grateful, he gave decided to spend the summer, if possible, studying in
me as my first lesson in the hospital wards of the great Blockley Alms House
practical anatomy a demon- of Philadelphia.”
stration of the human wrist. Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women:
The beauty of the tendons Autobiographical Sketches by Elizabeth Blackwell (1895)
and exquisite arrangement
of this part of the body
COURTESY OF YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY
struck my artistic sense,
and appealed to the sentiment
of reverence with which this
anatomical branch of study was ever afterwards
invested in my mind.”
Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to
Women: Autobiographical Sketches by Elizabeth
Blackwell (1895)
Lithograph of Blockley Almshouse in 1838
12 UPSTATE MEDICAL ALUMNI JOURNAL | SPRING 2021
A
s the medical curriculum afforded almost no
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
practical training, students were responsible for
seeking their own clinical opportunities between
terms. The awakening Elizabeth experienced at Blockley,
where the poorest of Philadelphia society suffered through
debilitating illness in inhumane conditions, was pivotal.
Though she chose to write her thesis on the typhoid cases
she observed here, significant time spent in the women’s
Syphilis wards opened her eyes to the moral degeneration
of society, which she would proselytize against for the
duration of her career.
“But this terrible epidemic furnished an impressive
object-lesson, and I chose this form of typhus as the
subject of my graduation thesis, studying in the
midst of the poor dying sufferers who crowded the
hospital wards.”
Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women:
Valedictory Address to the Graduating Class of the Geneva College of Medicine at
Autobiographical Sketches by Elizabeth Blackwell (1895)
the Public Commencement.
COURTESY OF THE DAVID RUMSEY MAP COLLECTION, DAVID RUMSEY MAP CENTER, STANFORD LIBRARIES
“After the degree had been conferred on the others, I
was called up alone to the platform. The President, in
full academical costume, rose as I came on the stage,
and, going through the usual formula of a short Latin
address, presented me my diploma. I said: ‘Sir, I thank
you; it shall be the effort of my life, with the help of
the Most High, to shed honour on my diploma.’ The
Map of death rate of typhoid fever in the Mid-Atlantic region
audience applauded...”
Excerpt from Journal (1849)
E
lizabeth observed throngs of Irish immigrants fleeing
T
the famine, exiting ships infected with typhoid fever, he same residents of Geneva who had
spilling into the halls of Blockley Almshouse. Her ridiculed her turned out in droves to witness
thesis shows great insights regarding how little was the conferring of diplomas. When she was
actually understood about disease; germ theory invited to process down the aisle with the rest
was mocked as Quackery, in favor of the of the graduates she refused, pointing out
miasma theory that blamed “bad air” for the that parading in public was inappropriate
spreading of illness. Yet, her writings for a lady. After the ceremony, her brother
also demonstrate little sympathy for Henry escorted her out of the First Pres-
the patients, who she observed in a byterian Church past an enthusiastic
WOMEN IN AMERICA, RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE
COURTESY OF SCHLESINGER LIBRARY ON THE HISTORY OF
rather calculated manner. crowd that included many women.
To view the exhibit
in its entirety, visit
https://hsl.upstate.edu/
blackwellexhibit.
UPSTATE MEDICAL ALUMNI JOURNAL | SPRING 2021 13You can also read
