Born in England in 1821 this woman watched eight of her siblings and eight of her cousins die before her age of 16. Her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where her father began a sugar business like the one he had run in England.
After being rejected by 16 schools this woman was finally accepted by a college in New York. After many years of difficult studies and flagrant discrimination from predominately male students and the townspeople as well, she graduated on Jan. 23, 1849. Her name was Elizabeth Blackwell and she attended Geneva Medical College to become America's First Female Doctor.
In 1949 only 5.5% of medical students were women and in 1979 only 22.4%.
MEET: Lois Johnson, or more precisely I should say Dr. Lois Johnson. Currently, at age 79 she is a retired pediatrician as well as a teacher. Petite in size but a giant in her accomplishments she is quiet and unassuming. Imagine the phenomena of being a female, back in the day, and graduating from medical school yet none of us knew until I showed her house for sale and spotted her degrees hanging on the wall. Dr. Johnson also taught at the University of Cincinnati and Central America in Cincinnati. Although she is an avid quilter and knitter, Doc Johnson enjoys repairing antique clocks. This was a skill she acquired from a friend pediatrician years ago while many of the docs shared a 40 room house in Ohio. How many degrees separate you from Lois?
Married for 44 years, she and her husband recently moved to Bridgewater Retirement Home (her house sold). Three to four times a week, around 6:30am you can find them in the pool at the RMH Wellness Center working hard to maintain good health. She won't make herself known so you may need to initiate the conversation but I promise you it will be well worth your time. We commend you on your accomplishments, it certainly could not have been easy. You are a wonderful example for us to follow.
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