The Excellent Doctor Blackwell

When British-born Elizabeth Blackwell earned her medical degree in America in 1849 there was an international outcry. Few at the time would have disagreed with the actress Fanny Kemble's remark - 'What, trust a woman doctor - never!'Yet by the time Dr Blackwell died in 1910 there were hundreds of women practising medicine on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks in no small part to her courage and determination. Using a treasure trove of primary sources, the book reveals how Elizabeth Blackwell's pioneering efforts helped to fundamentally change the status of women in the West.The Excellent Doctor Blackwell tells a remarkable story, taking in the women's rights movement, the American Civil War and Elizabeth's personal tragedy, with a fascinating cast of characters, from Abraham Lincoln to Florence Nightingale.Praise for The Excellent Doctor Blackwell:'Julia Boyd resists the temptation to turn Blackwell into one of those old-fashioned feminist icons of the 1970s... the result is thorough and, above all, thoughtful' - The Guardian'One can only hope that this excellent biography of an excellent doctor will help garner Blackwell the renown she has always deserved' - New England Journal of Medicine'Julia Boyd's superb biography reveals B as a complex, tenacious and often frustrating character whose extraordinary single-mindedness changed our world' - Victorian GeekJulia Boyd worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum before accompanying her diplomat husband on various foreign postings. An accomplished researcher, she has published a number of books including Hannah Riddell: An Englishwoman in Japan, and A Dance with the Dragon: the Vanished World of Peking's Foreign Colony.

On 25 January 1849, Punch responded to an event that took place in upstate New York with a rhyme about 'excellent Miss Blackwell!'. On that day, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first modern woman to earn a degree from a recognised medical college. For an immigrant Englishwoman with neither money nor connections this was no mean achievement. But Elizabeth was a determined woman, who did not flinch from difficult issues. As a 'doctress', she addressed taboo subjects such as venereal disease, prostitution and masturbation. Deciding early on not to get married, she still sought a family and in 1854 adopted an orphan. Yet, despite her own achievements and close friendships with many of the leaders of the Suffragist movement, she discouraged her own daughter's ambitions. Conversely, her friendship with Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, inspired Anderson to become England's first woman doctor. With friends such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles Kingsley, George Eliot and an argumentative relationship with Florence Nightingale, Elizabeth Blackwell was one of the foremost women of her time. This new biography uncovers the life of this remarkable, complex, controversial and pioneering woman doctor whose vision and sheer guts in the face of enormous odds changed social history.