The Doctors Blackwell

How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine

By: Janice P. Nimura

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Elizabeth Blackwell believed from an early age that she was destined for a mission beyond the scope of "ordinary" womanhood. Though the world at first recoiled at the notion of a woman studying medicine, her intelligence and intensity ultimately won her the acceptance of the male medical establishment. In 1849, she became the first woman in America to receive an MD. She was soon joined in her iconic achievement by her younger sister, Emily, who was actually the more brilliant physician.

Exploring the sisters' allies, enemies, and enduring partnership, Janice P. Nimura presents a story of trial and triumph. Together, the Blackwells founded the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, the first hospital staffed entirely by women. Both sisters were tenacious and visionary, but their convictions did not always align with the emergence of women's rights - or with each other. From Bristol, Paris, and Edinburgh to the rising cities of antebellum America, this richly researched new biography celebrates two complicated pioneers who exploded the limits of possibility for women in medicine. As Elizabeth herself predicted, "a hundred years hence, women will not be what they are now."

©2021 Janice P. Nimura (P)2021 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Good History of Early Women Doctors

My great grandmother was among the first women to graduate from the University of Michigan medical school in the early 1880’s. I remember her and some of her stories but oh how I wish I had been older or she had lived longer. I wanted to read this book to learn more, and I did. But maybe this book is better read than listened to. I found it a little dry, more like a report. The two sisters were fascinating, complicated women. The book would have been better if there had been more about them rather than just their experience and what happened to them.

Interesting piece of history

The story is well-written and pieced together from different letters and journal entries. I really enjoyed learning about these pioneering women. Where would we be without them? Shockingly, some of the issues the Blackwell sisters dealt with are still being grappled with even today.

Enjoyed

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Blackwell Sisters. Read well with soothing voice. Thank you!

A Case for Women in Medicine: The Blackwell Sister

This is a well-written and thoroughly researched book, which considers the background of the Blackwell family, and their move to the new world from England in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Elizabeth was the third of nine children, and five years Emily's senior.
The Blackwell children did not attend school and were tutored at home as was the habit of wealthy families at that time. Of the girls, Elizabeth and Emily were the most intellectually gifted and ambitious.
Elizabeth apparently chose medicine as a field because it seemed the most challenging area of study, and she went at it with a dogged determination in the face of rejection from the many institutions to which she applied. Finally, she was accepted at a small college in Geneva New York. The same school, although Elizabeth was graduated with honors, refused to accept Emily a few years later.
Elizabeth was impatient to have her sister Emily join her in this medical endeavor, both because she was lonely, and because she believed Emily was her intellectual equal.
While today we can celebrate their intelligence and determination, this biography makes it clear that the sisters did not become physicians to alleviate the suffering of women in particular or humanity in general, but to prove something about themselves to the world at large. In fact, Elizabeth in particular did not even like women and felt that women as a group were not intelligent enough to have the vote. Elizabeth was quite opinionated, and believed that professional or academic women should, in fact, be celibate.
Both sisters shunned the overtures of liberal suffragettes, and did not attend any of their ground-breaking meetings.

This book was not helped by it's narrator, who often allowed sarcasm to seep through the writer's words. Also, Elizabeth spent time in Paris, and the narrator's French was painful to hear. By the end of this book, I regretted not having read it for myself.

bad narrator

Such an interesting story but read so badly that I kept checking out and had to feel for my pulse.

Valuable History

I loved how this story linked a lot of my previous learning together. I constantly felt this woman sounded really quirky and odd and and if I had known her in real life I would not have enjoyed her. It is in keeping with many brilliant minds who change the world. If you are reading this for the medical history it is worth the time. If you are reading it for an inspirational story you might be disappointed.

Very interesting and unexpected story, suffers from dry narration

This book details the lives of Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell, pioneering women of medicine, warts and all. A wonderful and thought provoking bit of history, filled with a treasure trove of primary resources which bring the unusual characters to life.

Unfortunately, the performance of the narrator takes away somewhat from the enjoyment of the book. The dry, sometimes sarcastic tone with which the story is read gives it a flavor of something I can’t quite put my finger on, but wasn’t to the benefit of the listening experience. The physical book also contains interesting images, so I therefore suggest reading this book in print rather than listening to it.

interesting

An interesting history and biography of the first women to be awarded degrees as medical doctors. The narrator was not particularly engaging and I had to speed the narration to get through. Still, worth reading/listening.

First woman doctor’s biography

Details of the times, her feelings and 1800 medicine, including medical education for women. It also addresses the state of hygiene and how it was perceived.

Excellent!

Who knew? This is a very interesting account of sisters determined to be doctors and doing all kinds of firsts to get there. This should be required reading in high school!