Teen Ink

PROLOGUE

On January 23, one unusually warm winter day in Geneva, New York, the graduation of the Geneva Medical College’s Class of 1849 was held in a local Presbyterian church. The church was packed with families and friends of the graduates, faculty, and many guests. In the midst of the male graduates in the front pews, a lone woman solemnly sat among the class. The president of the college summoned the graduates to the platform one by one and presented them their diplomas, addressing them as Domine (“male doctor” in Latin). Finally, the woman graduate was called. He conferred the medical degree upon her and saluted her as Domina (“female doctor”). The audience was witnessing a historic moment. Elizabeth Blackwell had became the first woman physician of the United States after prevailing over social barriers that excluded women from the study of medicine. She devoted her career and life to paving the path that enabled future women to successfully pursue medical careers, and inspired women for generations to pursue careers in medicine.