Letter to Sir Benjamin Brodie¹

Dated February 13, 1859

Page 1 of 2

Great Malvern
Feb. 13th/59
My dear Sir Benjamin Brodie,
Do you consider me as
having the advantage to
be sufficiently known to you
to ask you to do me a very
great kindness?
The Bearer of this is an
English lady, Ms. Blackwell²
MD. who graduated in
America - has worked her
way up to a physician's
practice among women and
children (not exclusively
in midwifery) at New York,
and is now returned to England

1. Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie (1783-1862) was a British surgeon and physiologist. For many years, he was professor of comparative anatomy and physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons and was known for his diagnostic skills. His reputation as a conservative surgeon allowed him to enjoy a top position in his profession. Brodie authored many books including On the Pathology and Surgery of Diseases of the Joints.

2. Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) was the first woman in the United States to receive a medical degree. She was born in Bristol, England and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1832. Blackwell pursued medical studies independently beginning in 1844 and in 1847 began studying under the tutelage of Dr. Samuel H. Dickson, a professor at Charleston Medical College. Although she applied to more than 25 medical schools, only Geneva Medical School (now Hobart and William Smith Colleges) accepted her. She endured much ridicule and prejudice but still graduated at the head of her class. Blackwell established a practice in New York but by 1869, she had decided to settle permanently in England. Blackwell and Nightingale held different opinions about the role of women in medicine. For an analysis of this difference, see Lois Monteiro's On Separate Roads: Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Blackwell (Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 520-533).