BLACKWELL FAMILY
ELIZABETH BLACKWELL
Subject File
New Hospital for Women1851
                                                 D.E.


I hope soon to hear of recovered
strength. I am much grieved
at these failures of physical power. 

            F. I. is trying to break
down the hospital scheme through
an attack on Mrs. Thome? by her
cousin Mrs. Clough.  Her arguments 
are the following. 
1. A female hospital can not be maintained 
by voluntary contributions. 

2. If maintained it will cost too much,
possess an insufficient staff
of physicians - be an inefficient
school of medicine. 

3. The whole matter will be thrown
back 50 years, by taking a wrongstep now, one which will break
down.
4 a The true plan is for me to enter
into private practice - b and
train head nurses, out of
which class, physicians will
come.
       The misconception of
our plans, shown by heads 1,
2 & 3, is explained by her
strong desire to carry out  b,
no 4 - but I think [the] her
whole plan is vitiated by supposing
that women physicians
will ever come from the
class of head nurses -
      I know of no solid reason
for changing our plan of

raising £10,000 for a female
hospital - If with that
sum we can endow a ward
under a woman physician
in a large existing hospital,
opening thereby the hospital
to suitable women students,
it will be well worth working
for; but the only chance, to
my mind, is an independent
step at first.       1859

Clough & T. N.
opposing hospital

  1859