WOMEN IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY 301 



of the leading institutions of America, and received a posi- 

 tive refusal to her request. Finally, when hope had almost 

 vanished, she received word from a small college in Geneva, 

 New York, announcing that her application had been favor- 

 ably considered and that she would be admitted as a stu- 

 dent whenever she presented herself. 



The truth is that the faculty of the college was opposed 

 to the young woman's admission, but wished to escape the 

 odium incident to a direct refusal by referring the ques- 

 tion to the class with a proviso which, it was believed, 

 would necessarily exclude her. ' l But in this it was greatly 

 surprised and disappointed. For the entire medical class, 

 to the number of about one hundred and fifty, decided 

 unanimously in favor of the fair applicant's admission. 

 And they did more than this. They put themselves on 

 record regarding the equality of educational opportunities 

 for women and men in a way that must have put their 

 timid professors to shame. Their resolution, accompanying 

 an invitation to the young woman to become a member of 

 the student body, was worded as follows: 



" ' Resolved, That one of the radical principles of a re- 

 publican government is the universal education of both 

 sexes ; that to every branch of scientific education the door 

 should be equally open to all; that the application of 

 Elizabeth Blackwell to become a member of our class meets 

 our entire approbation, and, in extending our unanimous 

 invitation, we pledge ourselves that no conduct of ours 

 shall cause her to regret her attendance at this institu- 

 tion.' " 



The students were as good as their word. Their conduct, 

 as Miss Blackwell wrote years afterward, was always ad- 

 mirable and that of "true Christian gentlemen." But the 

 women of Geneva were shocked at the female medical stu- 

 dent. They stared at her as a curious animal; and the 

 theory was fully established that she was "either a bad 

 woman, whose designs would gradually become evident, or 



