01-23 TABLE of CONTENTS:
She was refused admittance to 29 medical schools
DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and
EVENTS
QUOTE by
Barbara Bush.
Elizabeth Blackwell
Event 01-23-1849,
Elizabeth Blackwell, graduated medical school to become the first woman
physician in the history of the US. She had been turned down by 29 medical
schools and only got into the one at Geneva, NY, because the students thought
her application a joke.
"I
had not the slightest idea of the commotion created by my appearance as
a medical student in the little town. Very slowly I perceived that a doctor's
wife at the table avoided any communication with me, and that as I walked...
to college the ladies stopped to stare at me as at a curious animal. I
afterwards found that I had shocked Geneva propriety that the theory was
fully established either that I was a bad woman, whose designs would gradually
become evident, or that, being insane, an outbreak of insanity would soon
be apparent.
"Feeling
the unfriendliness of the people, though quite unaware of all this gossip,
I never walked abroad, but hastening daily to my college as a sure refuge,
I knew when I shut the great doors behind me that I shut out all unkindly
criticisms..."
In 1849, upon graduation,
Elizabeth Blackwell who exhibited no insanity nor did she reveal herself
a "bad" woman - but rather an intelligent, hardworking student
who finished near the top of her class to became the first woman doctor
in the United States. Following graduation she went to New York City to
set up a medical practice. Hospitals
refused to let her patients in. Landlords refused to rent her an office.
Other doctors shunned her. She wrote:
"The
first seven years of New York life were years of very difficult, though
steady, uphill work. Patients came very slowly to consult me. I had no
medical companionship, the profession stood aloof, and society was distrustful
of the innovation. Insolent letters occasionally came by post, and my pecuniary
position was a source of constant anxiety."
She went back
to her homeland of England to study more, contracted ophthalmia from a
baby and lost her sight in one eye. In 1851 she returned to New York and
by l857 raised enough money (primarily from women) to buy a building and
open the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. The hospital was staffed
by Elizabeth Blackwell, her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell and Dr. Marie E.
Zakrzewska and was the first time a woman was examined by a woman. The
era of moderm medical care for women really began.
Nine years later she
opened the Women's Medical College of New York Infirmary, the first medical
school for women.
The first black woman
to receive medical training in the U.S. was Rebecca Lee. She completed
a 17-week course at the New England Female Medical College in Boston. In
1870, Susa Smith McKinney Steward became the first black woman to
actually earn an M.D. Not only did she graduate, but she graduated valedictorian
of her class at the New York Medical College for Women. She did post graduate
studies at the Long Island College Hospital as the only woman student.
Her practice was so large - treating men, women and children both white
and black - that she had to maintain two offices. In 1880, she co-founded
a hospital for girls who worked in the New York area sweat shops.
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01-23 DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and
EVENTS
B. 01-23-1688, Ulrika Eleonora, Swedish queen
whose short reign (1718-20) led to Sweden's Age of Freedom. Her influence
was profound as she turned the nation toward parliamentary government rather
than the absolutism of the royal monarchy.
B. 01-23-1813, Camilla Collett, Norwegian novelist
and women's rights advocate. Her philosophy and cry for justice and
equality was brilliantly expounded through excellent writing in plots/settings
that put women's rights in the perspective of civilization. She was a major
influence in the development and scope of Norwegian novelists and Henrik
Ibsen acknowledged her influence. She is best known for The Governor's
Daughter.
B. 01-23-1837, Amanda Smith, prominent Afro-American
evangelist who also preached in Europe, India, and Africa, probably
the first woman to preach in India. She created an orphanage for black
children in Illinois using the down payment from the sale of her books.
B. 01-23-1861, Katherine Tynan, Irish poet and novelist whose
works centered around Roman Catholicism and Irish patriotism.
B. 01-23-1875, Mary Blanche Norton, American
physician did unbelievable hard, life-affirming work in war-torn Turkey,
often with orphans. Contracted acute Egyptian trachoma while treating 210
orphans at one time for the disease and almost lost her own eyesight. Returned
to the U.S. for treatment and remained to specialize in skin diseases.
B. 01-23-1896, Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 1919
to 1964. As a constitutional queen led the country through the difficult
days of World War II and helped it develop into a modern nation.
B. 01-23-1918, Gertrude B. Elion, American
scientist. GBE was co-winner of the 1988 Nobel prize for developing
the synthesis of drugs that combat such ailments as acute leukemia, gout,
and malaria and an immunosuppressant compound that made possible the successful
transplantation of organs. She led the development of acyclovir, the first
effective treatment for herpes-cirus infections.
Later, when she was supposedly retired, scientists
working under her direction and using her methodology developed AZT, the
first FDA drug approved for the treatment of AIDS but she was given very
little publicity for her development.
Her mother was a homemaker whom GBE described as having
"more common sense than anyone I have
ever known." Of Jewish descent, she was
from a long line of rabbis which dated back to 700 AD according to extent
synagogue records.
B. 01-23-1928, Jeanne Moreau, French actor who helped establish
the prominence of several French directors including Francois Truffaut
by her ability to express endless nuances.
B. 01-23-1933, Chita Rivera, dancer, actor, singer. Tony award
actor for her work in The Rink (1984). She was raised by her working,
widowed mother.
Event 01-23-1955: The U.S. Presbyterian Church
votes to accept women as ministers.
Event 01-23-1982: Debbie Brill, Canadian athlete
who proved that pregnancy and motherhood need not end a woman's athletic
career. Her son was only five months old when she set a new indoor
world broad jump record of 6'6-3/8".
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QUOTES DU JOUR
BUSH, BARBARA:
"Somewhere
out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my
footsteps and preside over the White House as the President's spouse. I
wish him well."
-- Barbara Bush, addressing a commencement audience at Wellesley College.
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