Emily Blackwell Biography

Emily Blackwell

After several rejections because of her sex, Blackwell gained acceptance to Western Reserve University's medical school. She graduated in 1854 and continued her studies in Europe. She returned to the United States in 1856 and joined her sister, Elizabeth Blackwell, the country's first woman physician, at her infirmary, which in 1857 became the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. They expanded the hospital in 1868 to include a Women's College for the training of doctors, the first of its kind. Emily served as the institution's dean and a professor of obstetrics for more than 30 years.