She was one of nine children born to a sugar refiner of moderate means in 1821. As a young woman, Elizabeth Blackwell dreamed of one day becoming a doctor. Nothing else would do.

    Of course, she was scorned and ridiculed, because, in the 1800s, women didn’t do that sort of thing.

    Rejected from eleven different medical schools, she was finally accepted at Geneva Medical College as a joke! Nonetheless, Elizabeth Blackwell rose to the challenge. She completed her education and struggled in a male-dominated profession.

    By the time she brought her career to an end, she had built the prestigious New York Infirmary and College for Women and a medical school. Also, she was a renowned professor at the London School of Medicine for Women.