First Women To Become A Doctor: Elizabeth Blackwell

“If society will not admit of woman's free development, then society must be remodelled” –Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first women to graduate from medical school, in the modern era. She was born on Feb 3/1821 in England, and died on May 31/1910.

Her family moved to the United States and Elizabeth worked as a teacher to help pay for her medical school fees. After she worked in Kentucky she moved over to North and South Carolina and New York where she studied medicine.

It wasn’t easy for her to become a doctor, there were lots of challenges on the way. When Elizabeth applied to different schools most of them rejected her, except for one. A school in New York thought that Elizabeth was pulling a practical joke... so they accepted her. When Liz showed up at the new school all the teachers found out that she was actually serious. During the first few weeks Elizabeth wasn’t allowed to enter the medical classrooms because she was a woman, but she showed them that she was determined to become a doctor.

In 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell graduated and that’s when she became the first women ever to graduate from medical school in the modern era. That wasn’t it though; she still had a big challenge ahead of her, Elizabeth wanted to become a surgeon but she got an eye infection and became blind in one eye. So she never became a surgeon. Elizabeth looked for hospital jobs in New York but they rejected her, so she went back to London and bought a house so people could come for checkups in her house.

Elizabeth over her whole life had accomplished a lot. She wrote a book called “The Laws of Life; with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls.” Liz also wrote lots of other books as well. Elizabeth helped and encouraged other women to become doctors or nurses. So Elizabeth stayed in England and helped to organize the National Health Society and she also founded the London School of Medical for Women.

“For what is done or learned by one class of women becomes, by virtue of their common womanhood, the property of all women.” – Elizabeth Blackwell

Sources:

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/blackwellelizabeth/a/eliz_blackwell.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if-society-will-not-admit-of-woman-s-free/397859.html

The Friday Everything Changed By:Anne Hart

These boys and girls have different perspectives. The boys get to do more things while the girls can't do things like carry the water bucket, but in this story their teacher Miss Ralston changes things...

Identity: The boys see their teacher as someone who is masculine and built strong, but the girls see their teacher as a very feminine and pretty looking teacher. Lots of teachers back then looked down at their students and may have treated the boys better than the girls, but Miss Ralston was a teacher like no other. She looked at her students as if they were "real people."

Balance: Miss Ralston tried to make the girls just as equal as the boys. When Alma wanted a chance to carry the water bucket, Miss Ralston didn't say "NO" right away. She gave her a chance, just like the boys would get a chance. Miss Ralston really evened the girls and boys out, because the girls by the end of the story really felt as special as the boys.

Resilience: Throughout the whole story the girls NEVER gave up on the fact that they wanted a chance to carry the water bucket. The girls fought for their right, they got bullied but they still stood strong. By the end of the story their teacher gave in and let Alma carry the water. As soon as Alma said she wanted to carry the water bucket Miss Ralston didn't say anything, and gave her a chance.

Movement: Alma is a girl who wanted to be just as important as the boys. So of course she fights to be allowed to carry the water bucket, and she keeps standing up for what she wants. Alma was part of the reason why girls can do just as much as what the boys do. After the day that the girls could carry the water bucket as well as the boys, all the kids would have more respect for each other. All the girls and boys are now known as the same.

The Friday Everything Changed

The boys think that they are on the top of the world. While the girls keep trying to be just as important. Girls are only allowed to do certain things, while the boys can do basically anything they want. The girls try to have just as many rights as the boys. Miss Ralston is the teacher who is in charge of the whole class. In this part of the story it is saying what the girls think of their teacher, and what the boys think about their teacher. The girls think of the teacher as someone who they look up to and they think she is all pretty and well put together, they think of her as someone who is feminine because she is dressing so nicely. The boys look at their teacher and see a tough person inside of her. When in the story the boys are referring to Miss Ralston "for strapping so hard" it seems like the boys think that she is someone who is strict and something inside of her is built like a man. All these kids look up to their teacher, the boys see their teacher in a different way as the girls do.