My Hero:Elizabeth Blackwell By:Alayna Martinez

Basic Facts She was born on February Was born in England She was the third of nineteen children she was a Quaker which is a type of religion Quaker-The Quakers are a group of Christians who use no scripture and believe in great simplicity in daily life and in worship. Their services consist mainly of silent meditation.they also believe that men and women were equal. 8 of her siblings died while she was growing up Her father died not too long after they arrived in Cincinnati

Working to Become a Doctor Elizabeth became a teacher to pay for medical school She privately started studying medicine While teaching she also became a activist in the anti slavery movement

Working Pass prejudice She was tutored by three physicians about medicine before applying to Geneva college in New York. She was accepted when the school decided to allow the students to vote. The students thought that it was a hoax so they voted yes. While she attended Geneva she was disliked by professors and students alike she was even kept from classroom medical demonstrations, as deemed inappropriate for a woman. Elizabeth graduated first in her class in January, 1849 becoming the first women to graduate Medical School and becoming the first women Doctor.

Back to England After becoming a US citizen Elizabeth went back to England to learn more about medicine so she could become a surgeon Elizabeth received more training in a midwives course at La Maternite in Paris while there she suffered a serious eye injury which ruined her dreams of becoming a surgeon She worked at St. Bartholomew's Hospital while in England and continued to learn While there she became friends with Florence Nightingale

Back to New York When she returned home people treated her even worse they wouldn’t allow her buy office space for her own private practice! She was forced to buy a house to perform her practice in she only worked on women and children (that’s all who would go there) Elizabeth opened another clinic in the slums of New York and was soon joined by her sister who also went and got her medical license and a friend from Poland Male physicians actually surprised the three by agreeing to act as consulting physicians if they needed them

Not Only a Doctor Elizabeth not only practiced medicine but wrote about it as well. She wrote: The Laws of Life; with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls. The Religion of Health Counsel to Parents on the Moral Education of Their Children The Human Element in Sex Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women (an Auto-biography) Essays in Medical Sociology

Touring Elizabeth was so determined to get the word out that hygiene was important that she went on a year long lecture tour of Great Britain While there she became the first women ever to have her name on a medical registry She gave her lectures on personal experiences and also inspired some women to take up a career in medicine

Opening a School During the Civil War she opened a Women's Central Association of Relief to train women how to be nurses during the war then she opened the Women's Medical College right in her infirmary She took the teaching role in hygiene She moved back to England and organized The National Health Society She also opened the London School of Medicine for Women

Heroic Qualities Elizabeth Blackwell is a hero because she did what no one before her dared to do. She faced prejudice against women and worked to become a doctor she was an activist- she tried to help African Americans and whites be equal, she fought for women’s rights and set an example she was selfless- she helped people no matter where she was she opened an infirmary in the slums of New York because she knew people there needed help she was determined- no matter how much she was teased or treated cruelly did she ever give up She is brave- I don’t know many people who would set out and be able to accomplish as many firsts for women as she did On a more personal note she is my hero because I want to become a Pediatrician