Artifact 9: Elizabeth Blackwell
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| Elizabeth Blackwell |
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive an M.D. degree since the Renaissance, graduating form Geneva Medical College, in New York State, in 1849. She supported women’s medical education and helped many other women’s careers. By establishing the New York Infirmary in 1857, she offered a practical solution to one of the problems facing women who were rejected from internship elsewhere but determined to expand their skills as physicians. She also published several important books on the issue of women in medicine, including Address on the Medical Education of Women in 1864 and Medicine as a profession for Women in 1860.
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Bristol, England in 1821, to Hannah Lane and Samuel Blackwell. Both for financial reasons and because her father wanted to help abolish slavery, the family moved to Ameica when Elizabeth was eleven years old. Her father died in 1838. As adults, his children campaigned for women’s rights and supported anti-slavery movement. In her book Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women, published in 1895, Dr. Blackwel wrote that she was initially repelled by the idea of studying medicine. She said she had “hated everything connected with the body, and could not bear sight of a medical book…… My favourite studies were history and metaphysics, and the very thought of dwelling on the physical structure of the body and its various ailments filled me with disgust.” Instead, she went into teaching, then considered more suitable for a woman. She claimed that she turned to medicine after a close friend who was dying suggested she would have been spared her worst suffering if her physician had been a woman.
Blackwell had no idea how to become a physician, so she consulted with several physicians known by her family. They told her it was a fine idea, but impossible; it was too expensive, and such education was not available to women. Yet Blackwell reasoned that if the idea were a good one, there must be some way to do it, and she was attracted by the challenge. She convinced two physician friends to let her read medicine with them for a year, and applied to all the medical schools in New York and Philadelphia. She also applied to twelve more schools in the northeast states and was accepted by Geneva Medical College in 1847. The faculty, assuming that the all-male student body would never agree to a woman joining their ranks, allowed them to vote on her admission. As a joke, they voted “yes”, and she gained admittance, despite the reluctance of most students and faculty.
Two years later, in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive an M.D. degree from an American medical school. She worked in clinics in London and Paris for two years, and studied midwifery at La Maternité where she contracted “purulent opthalmia” from a young patient. When Blackwell lost sight in one eye, she returned to New York City in 1851, giving up her dream of becoming a surgeon.
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell established a practice in New York City, but had few patients and few opportunities for intellectual exchange with other physicians and “the means of increasing medical knowledge which dispensary practice affords”. She applied for a job as physician at the women’s department of a large city dispensary, but was refused. In 1853, with the help of some friends, she opened her own dispensary in a single rented room, seeing patients three afternoons a week. The dispensary was incorporated in 1854 and moved to a small house she bought on 15th street. Her sister, Br. Emily Blackwell, joined her in 1856 and , together Dr. Marie Zakrzewska, they opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children at 64 Bleecker street in 1857. This institution and its medical college for women (opened 1867) provided training and experience for women doctors and medical care for the poor.
As her heath declined, Blackwell gave up the practice of medicine in the late 1870s, though she still campaigned for reform.
Reflection questions:
1)
a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?
Ans: This essay relates to the main topic of gender roles and the liberation of woman, because in the essay, one big topic it is discussing is that idea of “woman are not allowed to study in Medicine schools”, and that Elizabeth got to enter the school is because the students answered “yes” as a joke; but out of their imagination, this was not a joke. It reflects the disrespectful and contempt feeling people have for woman at that time.
b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?
Ans: I think it can also relate to Human health, advancement of medicine. As in the essay, Elizabeth’s best friend said that it might have been easier if her physician was a women. So having women in the arena of Medicine might improve some conditions when patients feel embarrassed or uncomfortable.
2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?
Ans: My friend suggested me to do about Elizabeth Blackwell, because she said it’s one of her favourite character, and she say she think I’ll like it too. At the same time, she showed me her report that she handed in on this person, and we discussed it together, and it only took me around an hour to type the thing out, but the time thinking and discussing is far longer.
3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?
Ans: I understood the determination of Elizabeth Blackwell to open the field of medicine to females through the attitude of her facing difficulties. Also, I understood that she chose to become a doctor despite the fact that most considered her goal inappropriate and unattainable, that shows her unique personality, that she does not give up easily, and that she have determination, knows what she wants and will always strive for what she wants. At the beginning, Blackwell’s attitude toward studying and practicing medicine changed from uninterested to resolute, that tells me how can a person’s goal change so drastically, that people are very malleable.
4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?
Ans: I think this artifact do reflect my best work, because it took me a lot of time reading Encyclopedias and websites to pick out the essence of Blackwell’s lifelong information, so that I can present it in a way that is the easiest for everyone to read, and that it will not be daunting to read.
5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.
a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio. 3
b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 5
c. Impact on your learning. 5
d. Level of creativity and Originality. 1
6) Any additional comments.
Ans: No comments.
Artifact 10: Suffrage? Or not disenfranchised?
Passage 1:
First let me speak of the constitution of the United States, and assert that
there is not a line in it, not a word, forbidding women to vote; but, properly interpreted, that is, interpreted by the Declaration of Independence, and by the assertions of the Fathers, it actually guarantees to women the right to vote in all elections, both state and national. Listen to the preamble to the constitution, and the preamble you know, is the key to what follows; it is the concrete, general statement of the great principles which subsequent articles express in detail. The preamble says: “We, The people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.”
Commit this to memory, friends; learn it by heart as well as by head, and I should have no need to argue the question before you of my right to vote. For women are “people” surely, and desire, as much as men, to say the least, to establish justice and to insure domestic tranquility; and brothers, you will never insure domestic tranquility in the days to come unless you allow women to vote, who pays taxes and bear equally with yourselves all the burdens of society; for they do not mean any longer to submit patiently and quietly to such injustice, and the sooner men understand this and graciously submit to become the political equals of their mothers, wives and daughters–aye, of their grandmothers, for that is my category, instead of their political masters, as they now are, the sooner will this precious domestic tranquility be insured. Women are surely “people, I said, and were when these words were written, and were as anxious as men to establish justice and promote the general welfare, and no one will have the hardihood to deny that our foremothers (have we not talked about our forefathers alone long enough?) did their full share in the work of establishing justice, providing for the common defense, and promoting the general welfare in all those early days.
The truth is, friends, that when liberties had to be gained by the sword and protected by the sword, men necessarily came to the front and seemed to be the only creators and defenders of these liberties; hence all the way down women have been content to do their patriotic work silently and through men, who are the fighters by nature rather than themselves, until the present day; but now at last, when it is established that ballots instead of bullets are to rule the worked……now, it is high time that women ceased to attempt to establish justices and promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity, through the votes of men……
Passage 2:
This proposed amendment forbids the United States or any State to deny or abridge the right to vote on account of sex. If adopted, it will make several millions of female voters, totally inexperienced in political affairs, quite generally dependent upon the other sex, all incapable of performing military duty and without the power t enforce the laws which their numerical strength may enable them to make, and comparatively very few of whom wish to assume the irksome and responsible political duties which this measure thrusts upon them.
An experiment so novel, a change so great should only be made slowly and in response to a general public demand, of the existence of which there is no evidence before your committee. Petitions from various parts of the country, containing by estimate about 30,000 names, have been presented to Congress asking for this legislation. They were procured through the efforts of woman-suffrage societies, thoroughly organized, with active and zealous managers. The ease with which signatures ma be procured to any petition is well known. The small number of petitioners, when compared with that of the intelligent women in the country, is striking evidence that there exists among them no general desire to take up the heavy burden of governing, which so many men seek to evade. It would be unjust, unwise, and impolitic to impose that burden on the great mass of women throughout the country who do not wish for it, to gratify the comparatively few who do.
It has been strongly urged that without the right of suffrage women are and will be subjected to great oppression and injustice. But everyone who has examined the subject at all knows that without female suffrage, legislation for years has improved and is still improving the condition of women. The disabilities imposed upon her by the common law have, one by one, been swept away until in most of the States she has the full right to her property and all, or nearly all the rights which can be granted without impairing or destroying the marriage relation. These changes have been wrought by the spirit of the age, and are not, generally at least, the result of any agitation by women in their own behalf.
Nor can women justly complain of any partiality in the administration of justice. They have the sympathy of judges and particularly of juries to a extent which would warrant loud complaint on the part of their adversaries of the sterner sex. Their appeals to legislatures against injustice are never unheeded, and there is no doubt that when any considerable part of the women of any State really wish for the right to vote it will be granted without the intervention of Congress.
Any Sate may grant the right of suffrage to women. Some of them have done so to a limited extent, and perhaps with good results. It is evident that in some States public opinions is much more strongly in favour of it than it is in others. Your committee regards it as unwise and inexpedient to enable three fourths in umber of the states, through an amendment to the National Constitution, to force woman suffrage upon the other fourth in which the public opinion of both sexes may be strongly adverse to such a change.
For these reasons, your committee reports back said resolution with a recommendation that it be indefinitely postponed.
Reflection questions:
1)
a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?
Ans: Very overtly, it relates to “Gender roles and the liberation of woman.” The topic of these two essay is very direct and obvious, it is talking about women’s right of voting, whether they should have that free or not? In the First passage, I repeated “Women are people” 2 times so that the impression in the reader’s head will continue for a longer period. It talks about gender roles as in, why are women different from men? And why are men allowed to have suffrage and not women? The passages of my writing is at the same time a refuting argument and a supporting argument for both sides. I wrote the two passages in this format because I think it would be fun to read something that sounds like two people “debating”.
b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?
Ans: I think it relates to “universe through a telescope.” As I mentioned, those two passages are written from two different subjective point of view, and by looking at the big picture, comparing those two essay side by side, you will find that the argument from both side makes a lot of sense. This is like looking everything through telescopes, that you see everything clearly and can look at both sides of an event.
2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?
Ans: I choose this artifact because when I was in Dulwich, I took a term of modern American History and I remember the teacher spent a lot of time on the topic of segregation, anti-slavery, and suffrages. We had a debate for Suffrages, and these two essays are actually the modified versions of my debate. As to modify, I added in lots of supporting details, and detail events, that makes a stronger argument; it took me some time to re-process this information but it is not too hard, only an hour or 45 minutes, circa.
3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?
Ans: I think it is fun to observe two things in tow different ways, just like a paper having two sides. In the first passage, I support my argument by referring to principles already accepted by my audiences which is my classmates or peers and I portrayed American women as patriotic which I don’t know if everyone’s going to agree with me or not. In passage w, I anticipated opposing viewpoints and then refuting them, it is an experiment of the new compare and contrast essay style I learned. I would take learning a special type of writing skill as an important lesson I’ve gained in this case study. However, I did talk about the similarities between these two passages. In those two passages, women are not meant to be soldiers are what is stated in and what two passages concur. In passage two, I emphasized how the judiciary treats women as when passage 1 does not stress this point hard. Finally, in passage two, I showed that women are well represented by the legislature even if they cannot vote.
4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?
Ans: I think this artifact reflects my best work and ideas. I worked on my writing skills super hard because I am trying to make a strong contrast, like 2 person writing two arguments on a debate contest. Also, I have discussed this with my friend so that the work produced would not be subjective and narrow-scoped.
5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.
a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio. 3
b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 5
c. Impact on your learning. 5
d. Level of creativity and Originality. 3
6) Any additional comments.
Ans: No comments.
