Applying:
In 1847, Blackwell was ready to start applying. She went to Philadelphia, the center of medical study in the United States. There she met with many doctors and colleges. She even lived with a doctor and his family and was able to study anatomy with other doctors for the first time. Blackwell in total applied to about twenty nine schools and got accepted into only 2. She applied to the four leading medical schools and got an outright refusal from all. She then applied to New York schools and smaller(country) schools with no success. (Binns24) Admission: After being rejected to twenty plus colleges, Blackwell got a letter in October 1847 from the Dean of Geneva Medical School showing her acceptance. A famous doctor, Dr. Warrington recommended her and wrote to the school. The dean had decided to let the male students vote on whether Blackwell should be accepted. Thinking it was a joke and that a women would never be accepted into medical school, they voted yes.(Markel) The joke was actually on those men, because Elizabeth went on to be 1st in her class. Blackwell was also accepted into Castleton Medical College in Vermont but declined. Once there the school held a meeting with the entire medical class creating a resolution stating that scientific education should be open for everyone to study and that they would not regret there decision about Blackwell acceptance. |
"That to every branch of scientific education the door should be open equality to all; that the application of Elizabeth Blackwell to become a member of our class meets out entire approbation; and in extending our unanimous invitation we pledge ourselves that no conduct of ours shall cause her to regret her attendance at this institution." part of resolution created by Geneva (Boyd 65) |
"By accepting her, Geneva Medical College had publicly acknowledged the possibility of women working in the public arena. If other institutions followed, women could begin looking forward to a bright future." (Boyd 66)