In the early 1800s, women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided receiving medical care. Examinations performed by male doctors were often demeaning and painful, and women faced damaging social stigma from illness.

Despite countless obstacles, Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Sophia Jex-Blake fought for a woman’s place in the male-dominated medical field. The three pioneers earned medical degrees and paved the way for other women to do the same, then built women-run hospitals and teaching colleges – creating for the first time medical care for women by women.