FEATURING BOTH DR. ELIZABETH AND DR. EMILY BLACKWELL AS LECTURERS
DRS. BLACKWELL AND COLLEAGUE FOUNDED THE NEW YORK INFIRMARY FOR WOMEN
Her younger sister Emily Blackwell completed her medical studies from (what is now ) Case Western Reserve University in 1854., becoming the third woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. In 1857, Elizabeth and Emily, along with colleague Dr. Marie Zakrzewska, founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and began giving lectures to female audiences on the importance of educating girls. It became the first hospital staffed entirely by women. Women served on the board of trustees, on the executive committee and as attending physicians. The institution accepted both in- and outpatients and served as a nurse’s training facility. The patient load doubled in the second year, and by 1866, nearly 7,000 patients were being treated per year.
