Tag: women doctors

women doctors
Civil War Women, Famous Firsts, Women Lawyers

Belva Lockwood

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One of the First Women Lawyers in the United States Belva Lockwood (1830–1917) was the first woman admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court when she pursuaded Congress to open the federal courts to women lawyers in 1879, and the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. She was also active in working for women’s rights and overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions. Lockwood ran for president in 1884 and 1888 on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party and was the first woman to appear on official ballots. Born Belva Ann Bennett on October 24, 1830 in Royalton, New York, she was the daughter of farmers Lewis Johnson Bennett…

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African Americans, Civil War Women, Women in Business

Annie Burton

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Former Slave Who Became a Businesswoman Annie Louise Burton was born a slave in Clayton, Alabama in 1858. She was the daughter of a woman named Nancy, the cook of Mr. and Mrs. William Farrin whose plantation was near Clayton. Annie’s father, a white man born in Liverpool, England, owned a plantation that was a long walk from the Farrin plantation. Annie grew up during the Civil War and remembered fondly her early days on the plantation. Excerpt, Memories of Childhood’s Slavery Days: On the plantation there were ten white children and fourteen colored children. Our days were spent roaming about from plantation to plantation, not knowing or caring what things were going on in the great world outside our…

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Civil War Women, Women Doctors

Emily Blackwell

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Doctor and Educator in the Civil War Era Emily Blackwell (1826–1910), physician and educator, was the second woman to earn a medical degree at what is now Case Western Reserve University, and the third woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. Dr. Blackwell, with her sister Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell and their colleague Dr. Marie Zakrzewska, established the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, the first hospital for women and children in the United States. Early Years Emily Blackwell was born on October 8, 1826, the sixth of nine surviving children born to Samuel and Hannah Lane Blackwell in the seaport of Bristol, England. There Samuel prospered as the owner of a sugar refinery, which provided a…

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Civil War Women, Famous Firsts, Women Scientists

Maria Mitchell

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One of the First Women Scientists in the United States Maria Mitchell (1818–1889) was an American astronomer who discovered a comet in her telescope in 1847, which became known as the Miss Mitchell’s Comet and brought her international fame. She was the first professor appointed at the new Vassar College and the first acknowledged woman astronomer in the United States. Image: Maria Mitchell with her students Early Years Maria (pronounced ma-RY-ah) Mitchell was born August 1, 1818 on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, daughter of Quakers William and Lydia Coleman Mitchell. She had nine brothers and sisters. Her mother’s side of the family traced its ancestry to Benjamin Franklin. The Quaker religion taught intellectual equality between the sexes, and the…

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Civil War Women, Feminists

Ernestine Rose

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Abolitionist and Women’s Rights Activist Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) was an advocate for the abolition of slavery and an orator whose activism was recognized by contemporaries as one of the major intellectual forces behind the women’s rights movement in nineteenth-century America. Although she met with discouragements, lack of acknowledgement of her achievements and hostility from women, she was described as “one of the best lecturers of her time.” Early Years She was born Ernestine Louise Potowski in Peterhof Trybunalski, Poland, on January 13, 1810. Her father was a wealthy rabbi and her mother the daughter of a wealthy businessman. She was reared in strict accordance with the tenets and rituals of the Jewish religion. At the age of five, Rose began…

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Civil War Women, Famous Wives

Lydian Emerson

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Wife of Poet and Writer Ralph Waldo Emerson Lydian Emerson was a devout Christian, witty conversationalist and a member of the Transcendental Club. A major influence on her husband’s thought, she offered commentary on current events and once wrote of the excesses of American Transcendentalism in a text called The Transcendental Bible. She opposed slavery, supported women’s rights, and considered marriage to an unfit mate to be tantamount to slavery. Image: Lydian Emerson with son Edward, circa 1847 Lydia Jackson was born in 1802 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She met Ralph Waldo Emerson – an essayist, lecturer and poet – when he gave a lecture in her hometown in 1834. On January 24, 1835, Emerson wrote a letter to Lydia proposing…

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Authors, Civil War Women, Famous Firsts

Emily Dickinson

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One of the Top Women Poets in the United States Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) is considered the most original 19th century American poet. She is noted for her unconventional broken rhyming meter and use of dashes and random capitalization as well as her creative use of metaphor and overall innovative style. She was a deeply sensitive woman who explored her own spirituality, in poignant, deeply personal poetry, revealing her keen insight into the human condition. Image: A photo dated 1860 believed to be Emily Dickinson Emily the Daughter Emily Dickinson was born December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was the second child born to Emily Norcross and Edward Dickinson, a Yale graduate, successful lawyer and United States Congressman. While Emily…

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Authors, Civil War Women

Fanny Fern

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Journalist and Novelist in the Civil War Era American writer Fanny Fern (1811-1872), born Sarah Willis, was the first woman newspaper columnist. By 1855, Fern was the highest-paid columnist in the United States, commanding $100 per week for her New York Ledger column. Her best-known work, novel Ruth Hall (1854), was based on her life – the years of happiness she had with her first husband, the poverty she endured after he died, the lack of help from her male relatives, and her struggle to achieve financial independence as a journalist. She was born Sarah Payson Willis on July 9, 1811 in Portland, Maine to Nathaniel Willis and Hannah Parker Willis; she was the fifth of nine children. At an…

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Authors, Civil War Women

Rebecca Harding Davis

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Pioneer Author in Realistic Fiction Rebecca Harding Davis (1831-1910) was a journalist and author who began writing realistic fiction more than two decades before the height of American literary realism. Her most important work, the novella Life in the Iron Mills, was published in the April 1861 edition of the Atlantic Monthly, which quickly made her an established female writer. Throughout her lifetime, Davis sought to effect social change for blacks, women, Native Americans, immigrants and the working class by writing about the plight of these marginalized groups. Rebecca Blaine Harding was born on June 24, 1831, the oldest of five children of Richard and Rachel Wilson Harding. The couple lived in Huntsville, Alabama; yet, Rachel traveled to her sister’s…

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Authors, Civil War Women

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

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American Feminist Author and Social Reformer Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844-1911) was an American author and an early advocate of clothing reform, urging women to burn their corsets. She wrote fifty-seven volumes of fiction, poetry and essays. In 1868 Phelps’ story “The Tenth of January” about a tragic fire that killed scores of girls at the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, MA established her reputation as a writer, and her novel The Gates Ajar became a national bestseller. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps was born Mary Gray Phelps in Boston on August 31, 1844, to Elizabeth Wooster Stuart Phelps and Reverend Austin Phelps. Her father was pastor of the Pine Street Congregational Church until 1848, when he accepted a position as the Chair of…

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