Emily Blackwell directed the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and the Women’s Medical College, providing rare advanced training for pioneering women physicians and medical services for women, by women.
Sister of Elizabeth Blackwell, America’s first woman physician, Emily Blackwell also became a physician and collaborated with her sister to expand the New York Infirmary to include a medical college for women.
Blackwell was a brilliant organizer and manager, and for more than 30 years served as the institution’s dean and professor of obstetrics and gynecology. Her high standards made the college probably the finest of its time for educating women in medicine.
In the years before women were routinely admitted to medical schools with men, 364 women physicians were well-prepared for medical practice because of Blackwell’s management and medical skills, and challenged by her inspiring example.
