Rebecca Lee Crumpler Facts Let us Witness the Female Heroine History Experiences
Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler (8 February 1831 – 9 March 1895) an American physician. She was the first African American woman to become a physician in the United States. Her publication of A Book of Medical Discourses in 1883, was one of the first by an African American about medicine.
Even as a child, Rebecca Lee Crumpler had a passion for helping those in need. This passion would aid her in becoming the first African-American woman to earn a medical degree. She endured many obstacles and hardships before she reached her goal. However, in the end she got her medical degree and became one of the first African-Americans to have a medical publication.
–1833: Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born in Richmond, Virginia. She was raised in Pennsylvania by her aunt. Her aunt spent a great deal of time caring for the sick in her community. She was probably Crumpler’s greatest inspiration for becoming a doctor.
–1852: she moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, and began working as a nurse. She continued this work for another eight years. Many of the doctors she served under suggested that she enter the New England Female Medical College in Boston.
–1859: she took their advice and was admitted to this institution.
–1861: at the outbreak of the Civil War, Crumpler was forced to quit her studies and was “relocated” to Richmond, Virginia.
–1863: She returned to college only to discover that her financial aid was forfeited. Thankfully, she won a tuition award from the Wade Scholarship Fund, which was established by the Ohio abolitionist, Benjamin Wade.
–1864: she was able to complete her studies and earned her medical degree.
–1865: After receiving her degree, Crumpler moved her practice to Richmond, Virginia at the end of the Civil War. While she was there, she worked with the Freedmen’s Bureau, and missionary and community groups and later returned to Boston to practice.
–1883: her book, “A Book of Medical Discourses in Two Parts,” was published. It was one of the first medical publications written by an African-American.
–1895: she died.
