Cobblestone articles from March 2003

Cobblestone archives from March 2003

Editor's note.
March 1, 2003... Legend has it that Elizabeth Blackwell was admitted to medical school as a joke. But any laughter turned to respect when she earned a medical degree in 1849, making her the first woman in the United States to accomplish this. Blackwell's...

Looking back: a history of women in medicine.
March 1, 2003... Women have been involved in the treatment and prevention of illness for thousands of years. Using herbs and plants, women created basic versions of many of the over-the-counter medicines--like pain relievers and vitamins--taken today. From...

'They shall do what they please'.
March 1, 2003... On February 3, 1821, Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Bristol, England. She was the third of nine children of Samuel and Hannah Blackwell. Several aunts and servants also lived with the family. Fortunately, Samuel was a successful sugar refiner...

The road to medical school.
March 1, 2003... In early 1845, while visiting a female friend who was dying of cancer, Elizabeth Blackwell was asked, "Why don't you study medicine?" The woman, Mary Donaldson, continued, "You like to study, and you have intelligence. If I had been treated by...

Setting up practice.
March 1, 2003... With a medical degree in hand, Elizabeth Blackwell needed to find a place to practice medicine. She hoped to work in a hospital as a surgeon, but she was aware that it would not be easy to get such an opportunity. Blackwell knew that, most...

Blackwell branches out.
March 1, 2003... At the start of 1854, Elizabeth Blackwell was feeling very lonely in her New York medical practice. "I had no medical companionship, the profession stood aloof, and society was distrustful of the innovation," she recalled in her autobiography....

Blackwell's partners.
March 1, 2003... It was not easy getting a medical practice up and running, but Elizabeth Blackwell was aided by two women with the same spirit of determination she had. Emily Blackwell (1826-1910) was Elizabeth's younger sister. Blackwell applied to...

Finding your place. (Quote of the Month).
March 1, 2003... This month's quote comes from a letter Elizabeth Blackwell wrote in 1851 to the English baroness Anne Isabella Milbanke Byron in response to Lady Byron's remarks about the place of women in the medical profession. The brief account of Lady...

Did you know?
March 1, 2003... Barbers were the first doctors: The red and white spirals on barber poles referred to red blood and white bandages. Although today's nurses are mostly women, the nursing profession was dominated by men when it began. Hygiene comes from...

An emphasis on hygiene.
March 1, 2003... Overcrowding in New York in the nineteenth century was a major problem. After 1820, the city's population increased steadily. By 1850, an influx of immigrants from Ireland and Germany had brought the number of city dwellers from 123,000 to...

Dreaded diseases.
March 1, 2003... Many infectious diseases that were once common killers are now rare in the United States. Two important advances--medicine and sanitation--have brought about enormous improvements in the fight against dangerous illnesses. Unfortunately,...

A return to England.
March 1, 2003... By 1869, Elizabeth Blackwell felt that her "pioneer work in America had ended." She decided to return to England so that she could accomplish there what she had in the United States: educating people about health and enabling women to become...

In honor of Blackwell.
March 1, 2003... Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell's life exemplified outstanding service to humanity. In her name, an award is given by Hobart and William Smith Colleges. The women who are chosen for this honor must share the same remarkable characteristics as...

Paving the way.
March 1, 2003... There were many nineteenth-century women who took chances, struggled for equality, and fought to be accepted in the medical community. Following are some women who, like Elizabeth Blackwell, helped pave the way for those who followed in the...

Time for your check up (and down): crossword puzzle.
March 1, 2003... For centuries, female-doctor and female-nurse were forbidden combinations. But this crossword puzzle shows how putting the two together can be fun and educational. After reading this issue on Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, you should be able to fill...

Brain ticklers.
March 1, 2003... Give your brain a little tickle to see how well you read and understood this issue on Elizabeth Blackwell. If you believe the answer to be false, give yourself the ultimate test and see whether you can explain why it is false. Answers on page...

A final word.(gender-oriented professions)
March 1, 2003... What professions can you think of today that seem to be exclusively male or female? If you cannot think of any, what does that indicate about present-day society? If you come up with some, try to imagine breaking into a field that is dominated...

Friends to Enemies. (Letters).(Poem)
March 1, 2003... She was my friend, then she threw me out--like a toy for which she had no use. But I don't understand why she did this. We shared memories and laughs--then that was lost. I know everything about her....

Friends Are Like.... (Letters).(Poem)
March 1, 2003... Friends are like the silence of the rain--they never tell your secrets. Friends are like beautiful paintings--ones you can never replace. Friends are like glue--they stick to you no matter what. ...

Wind. (Letters).(Poem)
March 1, 2003... I push you with my chilly hand as you run around outside. Without wings, without feathers, I fly through the sky. I howl during evening thunderstorms, and I whisper in the day. I destroy, and I...

What I hear. (Letters).(Poem)
March 1, 2003... I hear... the songs of whales in the ocean, sounds of the unpredictable weather, crickets singing through the night, the soothing trickling of an active brook, excited monkeys playing in the trees,...

Noisy 7th Avenue. (Letters).(Poem)
March 1, 2003... When you turn the corner from 6th to 7th Avenue, the noise will petrify your ears. Cars are all around you. An airplane glides swiftly over you. Floating clouds seem to hold their ears in the puddle of...

Dear Cobblestonians. (Letters).
March 1, 2003... Their skill as mechanics coupled with their curiosity as inventors enabled brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright to build the first airplane. The success of their first short flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December 1903 introduced a...

Hard times. (Letters).
March 1, 2003... I am the great-nephew of the famous doctor Elizabeth Blackwell. My great-aunt had a very hard time in medical school because no one wanted her there. Once, while she was reading a newspaper, someone set it on...

Books to read. (Digging Deeper).
March 1, 2003... Elizabeth Blackwell: Physician by Jordan Brown (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989), part of the American Women of Achievement series, is a biography of the pioneering woman who became the first female doctor in America, paving the way...

On the Web. (Digging Deeper).
March 1, 2003... www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/blackwell/, the Web site of the National Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division, displays an on-line version of an exhibit held at the NLM in 1999. It covers the college life, graduation, and career of Elizabeth...

Places to visit. (Digging Deeper).
March 1, 2003... Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York. You can visit the grounds of the school that graduated the first women doctor and see the lifesize statue of Blackwell on the Hobart Quadrangle. National Women's Hall of Fame and Women's...

From the Archives.
March 1, 2003... Often in past years, COBBLESTONE has encouraged the celebration of Women's History Month in March by publishing an issue focused on a famous American woman or group of women. These issues have covered female civil and social rights activists,...

Cartoon connection.
March 1, 2003... ... and graduating at the top of the class, Elizabeth Blackwell. I guess the joke is on us! GRADUATION DAY AT GENEVA MEDICAL COLLEGE JANUARY 23, 1849