The praise and the footnote at Blackwell’s commencement

The diploma and the response to it were not the same thing. Elizabeth Blackwell received her medical degree at Geneva on January 23, 1849. Charles A. Lee’s printed commencement address gives that date on its title page; the National Library of Medicine identifies Blackwell as the graduate. Valedictory address to the graduating class of Geneva Medical College at the public commencement, January 23, 1849; Elizabeth Blackwell: “That Girl There Is Doctor In Medicine” Part I.

In the address, Lee praised the graduate’s work and persistence through obstacles. He argued that a woman who demonstrated the necessary qualifications should be recognized. His language still treated that achievement as an exception, not the beginning of an ordinary place for women in the profession. Valedictory address to the graduating class of Geneva Medical College at the public commencement, January 23, 1849.

Then comes the footnote on page 28. It was added after the speech: Lee refers to criticism that had since appeared in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. He says he would oppose admitting women to future lectures because of the inconveniences he associated with their presence, and acknowledges the inconsistency of his position. That is a statement in the printed footnote, not something we can assume he said from the platform. Valedictory address to the graduating class of Geneva Medical College at the public commencement, January 23, 1849.