Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910)

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in America ever to attend medical school.

In 1868 Elizabeth and her sister Emily Blackwell founded Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary, to provide medical training for women seeking to become physicians.


In 1869, Elizabeth Blackwell returned to London. She established and ran a large practice, and in 1875 helped to found the London School of Medicine for Women, where she served as chair of gynecology. Elizabeth Blackwell also spent a good deal of time writing and lecturing on disease prevention and hygiene. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman ever listed in the British Medical Register, and was involved in founding the National Health Society. Scorned and ridiculed in the United States, Blackwell was appreciated in England. Elizabeth Blackwell died in Hastings, England, on May 31, 1910.

Clara Barton (1821- 1912)

Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1821 in Oxford, Mass., the youngest of 5 children in a middle-class family, Barton was educated at home, and at 15 started teaching school. Her most notable antebellum achievement was the establishment of a free public school in Bordentown, N.J.

She is remembered as the founder of the American Red Cross.

Virginia Apgar (1909-1974)

Virginia Apgar, inventor of the APGAR Score for newborn infants, was born in Westfield, New Jersey, on June 7, 1909. Having witnessed her brothers' chronic and deadly childhood illnesses, Apgar chose a career in medicine.