Lives of Consequence
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell 1849
First Woman Physician
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell's graduation as the first woman Doctor of Medicine in America is one of the proudest moments in the history of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, taking place as it did in the medical department of Hobart College's precursor institution, Geneva College.
Dr. Blackwell selected medicine as a career in the face of almost universal certainty that being a physician was neither an appropriate career for a woman nor an attainable one. Dr. Blackwell was rejected by 29 medical schools before she was admitted to Geneva Medical College in 1847.
She graduated two years later, Jan. 23, 1849, at the head of her class. In 1852, Dr. Blackwell published her first book, "The Laws of Life, with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls," a volume about the physical and mental development of young women.
She went on to found the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, its purpose not only to serve the poor, but also to provide a training facility for female medical and nursing students. Later, she established a women's medical college, The Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary.
Upon her return to her native England, she helped found the National Health Society, was the first woman to be placed on the British Medical Register and taught at England's first college of medicine for women. She pioneered in preventive medicine and in the promotion of antisepsis and hygiene. She was responsible for the first chair of hygiene in any medical college.
The example of Dr. Blackwell has been perpetuated in many ways. In 1949, Hobart and William Smith Colleges celebrated the 100th anniversary of her graduation by bestowing Elizabeth Blackwell Centennial Awards on 12 internationally famous women doctors. In 1974, the Colleges joined with the U.S. Postal Service in holding first-day-of-issue ceremonies for an 18-cent stamp depicting "Elizabeth Blackwell: First Woman Physician."
In 1958, Hobart and William Smith Colleges joined in the creation of the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for outstanding service to humanity. Since then, 28 distinguished women from around the world have been honored with award. Two aspects of Dr. Blackwell's own story guide the selections of honorees: first, Dr. Blackwell was a woman whose life opened doors to other women, by conspicuous professional achievement in a previously male-dominated occupation. Second, she lived a life of service, in which her talents and skills were offered to aid and benefit others.
In 1994, the Colleges dedicated a sculpture of Blackwell as a young woman, by Professor of Art A.E. Ted Aub, on the Hobart Quadrangle. Today, Dr. Blackwell serves as an important symbol of the barriers that women have overcome and those that remain. The legacy of Dr. Blackwell remains central to the coordinate community at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, representing a historic moment in medicine and women's liberation.
In 2020, Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ archives acquired personal letters and family photos of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell which provide a rare glimpse into the personal life of HWS’ most celebrated alumna. These new pieces share the story of Dr. Blackwell’s private life through letters discussing her hopes for her adopted daughter Katherine “Kitty” Barry, a note to her mother Hannah Lane Blackwell in reference to gynecological issues she learned her mother was experiencing from her sister Dr. Emily Blackwell, and her opposition to suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s stance on marriage.