Summary
Elizabeth Blackwell was originally a teacher, but she didn't enjoy her profession, which was among the few career choices available to women during the 1840s. A visit to a deathly ill friend inspired Blackwell to take up a new career path, one unheard of for women at that time: to become a doctor. Despite facing considerable discrimination, she graduated from medical school, founded an infirmary, and paved the way for many more women to enter the medical field. With full-color photographs, a helpful chronology, and suggestions for further reading, Elizabeth Blackwell describes the life, struggles, and accomplishments of America's first female physician.
About the Author(s)
Jon Sterngass has written more than sixty books, including biographies of Frederick Douglass, Kendrick Lamar, Crazy Horse, Queen Elizabeth, and Isaac Newton. Sterngass was born and raised in Brooklyn and has a B.A. in history from Franklin and Marshall College, an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in medieval history, and a Ph.D. from City University of New York in nineteenth-century U.S. history. He has lived in Saratoga Springs, New York for 26 years with his wife, Karen Weltman. This book is dedicated with love to his sister, Amy Starr, M.D., who helped lead the expansion of women in medicine in the 1970s.