Profile Text
Date of Birth: 3 February, 1821
Place of Birth: Bristol, England
Date of Death: 31 May, 1910
Place of Death: Hastings, England, U.K.
Ethnicity: English
Elizabeth Blackwell was an English-American physician. She was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the U.S., and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the U.K.
Elizabeth was the daughter of Hannah and Samuel Blackwell, a sugar refiner and abolitionist. She was the sister of writer, journalist, and translator Anna Blackwell, abolitionist Samuel Charles Blackwell, advocate for social and economic reform Henry Browne Blackwell, physician and women’s rights activist Emily Blackwell, and author, biographer, and artist Sarah Ellen Blackwell. Emily was the second woman in the U.S. to receive a medical degree. Elizabeth’s brother Samuel was married to Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman to be ordianed as a mainstream Protestant minister in the U.S., in the Congregationalist church. Elizabeth’s brother Henry was married to orator, abolitionist, and suffragist Lucy Stone. Her niece was feminist, suffragist, journalist, radical socialist, and human rights advocate Alice Stone Blackwell, who was Henry and Lucy’s daughter.
Her family moved to New York, U.S., in 1832, and later to Cincinnati, Ohio. She had a daughter, Irish-born Kitty Barry Blackwell, who she adopted.
Elizabeth’s paternal grandfather was named Samuel Blackwell.
Elizabeth’s paternal grandmother was named Elizabeth Stokes (the daughter of Isaac Stokes and Sarah).
Elizabeth’s maternal grandfather was named Henry Feneman Lane.
Elizabeth’s maternal grandmother was named Hannah.
Sources: https://www.womenshistory.org
Genealogy of Elizabeth Blackwell – https://www.findagrave.com
Genealogy of Elizabeth Blackwell (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.geni.com