In celebration of Women’s History Month, throughout March, we will highlight women who have made an impact on Case Western Reserve University and their fields.
Emily Blackwell helped pave the way for women in the medical field both educationally and professionally.
As a woman, she was denied admission to several medical schools and dismissed from another after her first year. She eventually came to Western Reserve University and graduated in 1854.
Upon her graduation, Blackwell became the third woman—and the second at Western Reserve—to earn a medical degree in the United States. Her sister Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to do so in the U.S. when she received her medical degree from Geneva Medical School in New York in 1849.
Together with colleague Marie Zakrzewska, the sisters co-founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, the first hospital run by and dedicated to the care of women and children.
The sisters also established the hospital’s Women’s Medical College, for which Blackwell served as dean for many years before the school merged with the Cornell University’s medical school.
After Elizabeth and Zakrzewska pursued other opportunities, Blackwell continued to keep the infirmary and college running—and expanding—for many years.