Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831 – 1895), nurse, physician, and medical author, defied prejudices that prevented African Americans from pursuing a career in medicine, becoming the first African American woman in the United States to obtained the title of doctor of medicine, a distinction previously awarded to Rebecca Cole (organization founder and social reformer). Although little information survives to tell the story of Crumpler’s life, she nevertheless secured her place in the historical record with her book Medical Advice for Women and Children, published in 1883.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler spent most of her career in Boston and Virginia caring for black mothers and children who were poor or denied medical care by white doctors.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born on February 8, 1831 in Delaware, raised by an aunt in Pennsylvania who used to provide medical assistance to sick neighbors whenever they needed it. It is possible that this is where Rebecca was influenced later on in her career choice. In 1852 she moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where she worked as a nurse, without any formal training, for the next eight years (the first school of nursing did not open until 1873). In 1860, she was admitted to the New England Female Medical College, graduating in 1864, Crumpler becoming the first African-American woman in the United States to earn a doctor of medicine degree and the only African-American woman to graduate from New England Female Medical College, which merged with Boston University School of Medicine in 1873.
In 1860, due to the high demand for medical care for Civil War veterans, there were more opportunities for female physicians and doctors, so because of her talent, Crumpler was recommended by her supervising physician to attend the school. At the time, there were 54,543 doctors in the United States, 300 of whom were women, but none of them were African-American, making Rebecca Lee Crumpler, as already mentioned, the first and only African-American doctor -American from his promotion.
“It may be well to say that, having been brought up by an aunt in Pennsylvania, whose usefulness to the sick was always in demand, I early felt a sympathy with people, and sought every opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others. Later in life I devoted my time as best I could to nursing as a profession, working with various doctors for a period of eight years (from 1852 to 1860). These doctors wrote me letters of recommendation for the New England Female Medical College, from which, four years later, I received the degree of Doctor of Medicine,” wrote Rebecca Lee Crumpler in her book “Book of Medical Discourses” published in 1883 , one of the first medical publications by an African American. Rebecca Lee Crumpler’s book is divided into two sections, the first focusing on preventing and alleviating bowel problems that can occur around teething and up to about five years of age, and the second mainly talking about ‘life and the development of individuals,” the beginning of womanhood, the prevention and cure of most “vexatious conditions” of both sexes. At the same time, the book also offers non-medical advice on when and how a woman should get married and how to ensure a happy marriage.
Dr. Crumpler practiced medicine in Boston for a short time before moving to Richmond, Virginia, after the end of the Civil War in 1865, feeling that Richmond would be “a fit ground for real missionary work, and the place that would afford ample opportunity to acquaint myself with with diseases of women and children. During my stay there, almost every hour was improved in this sphere of work. During the last quarter of the year 1866, I was allowed daily access to a very large number of natives and other persons of various classes, out of a population of over 30,000 colored persons’. He later joined other black doctors who were devoting their profession to freed and marginalized slaves who would otherwise have had no access to healthcare, working with the Freedmen’s Bureau, missionary and community groups.
After finishing his work in Richmond, he returned to Boston, offering his medical services in his own home, free of charge or for fairly nominal sums, to children.
Rebecca Crumpler died on March 9, 1895, in Fairview, Massachusetts, her grave unmarked for 125 years.
On July 16, 2020, a memorial service was held at Fairview Cemetery, when a granite headstone was also dedicated to him, following a fundraising appeal by Vicky Gall, a history buff and president of To the Association of Friends of the Hyde Park Library.
A year earlier, in 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared March 30 (National Doctors Day) Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler.
The Rebecca Lee Pre-Health Society at Syracuse University and the Rebecca Lee Society, one of the first medical societies for African-American women, were named after her.
Although very few photographs of her have survived, an article in the Boston Globe described her as “a very pleasant, intellectual woman and a devoted church man. Dr. Crumpler is 59 or 60 years old, she is tall, she has presence, light brown skin and gray hair.”
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Source: www.descopera.ro
