Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to WomenBlackwell, Elizabeth
History
Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women
Blackwell, Elizabeth
Blackwell, Elizabeth, 1821-1910; Women physicians -- United States -- Biography
It is called “Souvenir
de Charleston.”’ ’Twas quite a dashing affair; and then he
extemporised beautifully on ‘Lucy Long.’ I hope you may have
the pleasure in Cincinnati of hearing these real artists.
Oh for the time when such music may be a daily feast for
all, and when the performers shall be as noble in character
as they are gifted in talent!
Charleston: February 28, 1847.
MY DEAR MOTHER,—Two letters from you within a twelvemonth
seems as extraordinary as it is welcome. I was much gratified
by the kind home voices which greeted my birthday. I always
think of old family times on that day—the penny for each
year which father used laughingly to bestow, and the silver
that came after, and then the little children’s party, and
all the merry old times; but I am quite satisfied that my
childhood has gone; I never wish to recall it, happy as it
was; I want to be up and doing, not simply enjoying myself;
and if I never succeed in accomplishing all my intentions,
I mean to have the comfortable assurance that I have tried
hard and done my best. Your letter, besides its highly
respected religious advice, which I always lay up carefully
in a little scented corner of my mind, contains many little
interesting domestic items. How I should like to tap at
the window some night, while the brilliant solar lamp is
illuminating the planets and glorifying the cheerful faces
inside, and make you all start as if you saw a ghost, till
a most substantial shaking of the hand should convince
you to the contrary! We have had a very mild winter on
the whole, to my no small delight, for I dreaded the cold
exceedingly in this great house, where the wind rushes
grievously through every door and window and finds only the
ghost of a fire to warm it, and where heavy mists from the
ocean chill the very marrow of your bones. I’ve fortunately
had no broken chilblains on my hands this winter, and as I
teach in the warmest room in the house, and throw open the
shutters to let in all the sunshine, I don’t often have to
wear my blanket, but get along pretty comfortably. I am
teaching at present more than eight hours a day, and you
may imagine I get pretty tired by tea-time. Such a press of
teaching, however, will not last very long, and I am quite
willing that Mrs. Du Pré should gain as much as possible
by me while I am with her.
About a week ago I received an answer from the old Quaker
physician, Dr. Warrington of Philadelphia, to whom I was
introduced by Mrs. Willard of Troy some time ago. The letter
is quite an original; I must transcribe a little for your
benefit:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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