Sometimes it's hard to stop and actually start writing because wandering around in libraries is too much fun.ĮRIC: In your research of these two doctors, were you able to find anything in their youth that triggered a desire to get into science and, specifically, medicine? Seeking treasure in archives is one of the biggest thrills of doing this work. It's just a thrill to hold old pieces of paper that someone poured their heart out onto and read that again so that the voice is fresh. A lot of them also kept journals, which was always a great gift to an archival researcher.Īnd I quite love doing research in the 19th century.

So they were constantly leaving and writing back to each other, which meant there are thousands and thousands of letters among these siblings. JANICE: Well, luckily for me, the Blackwells were two among nine very tight-knit siblings who sort of had a sense of, 'our tribe against the world,' and at the same time, all drove each other a little nuts. So what kind of sources and materials did you use to get to know the Blackwell sisters?

Emily received her medical degree five years later in 1854.ĮRIC: So to start with, what is it like to research the lives of two figures who lived more than 100 years ago? I mean, you can't interview them or ask anyone who knew them. And out of her many siblings, she picked her younger sister, Emily, who was five years younger, to follow in her footsteps and join her on this lonely path of being the first woman in medicine. She was the first woman to receive a medical degree in this country in 1849. JANICE: Well, if you've heard those names at all you've probably heard Elizabeth Blackwell's name as the first woman doctor in America. Janice, thanks for joining me.ĮRIC: So your new book explores the careers of Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell. And my guest today is author Janice Nimura, author of the new book, The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine. We got a great question about the history of women in science that we're going to explore today on Pulsar. ERIC: In November, we celebrated women in science and engineering at the Museum of Science.

The doctors blackwell book