When Elizabeth Blackwell was eleven, she and her family left their home town, Bristol and sailed to New York. Their father’s finances centred around sugar refining, but when he died, Elizabeth found work until her two oldest brothers reached an age when they could support the family. Gradually, Elizabeth was determined to become a doctor, but in the 1800s, men did not wish to release their monopoly on the profession and Elizabeth found it difficult to find a university that would accept her.
This is the life story of Elizabeth and her sister Emily who both became doctors. They struggled against prejudice as female doctors throughout their lives even from other women, but they set the trail alight for other women to follow in their footsteps.
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