Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler (1831 – 1895) was an American doctor, the first black woman to become a doctor in the United States. In particular, she published one of the first books written by an African American on medicine.
The first African-American doctor
Daughter of Matilda Webber and Absolum Davis, Rebecca Davis Lee was born on February 8, 1831 in Delaware (coast eastern United States). She grew up in Pennsylvania, raised by an aunt. At that time, African Americans, especially the poorest, had very limited access to medical care, and Rebecca's aunt cared for infirm neighbors.
In 1852, Rebecca moved to Charlestown, a neighborhood in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. She worked there as a nurse for eight years, before being accepted in 1860 at the New England Female Medical College , founded twelve years earlier, which trains women in medicine. Medical studies are then difficult to access for women as for African-Americans, all the more so for Rebecca. Experienced and capable, she was recommended by the doctors she worked for. In 1864, when she graduated, she became the first black woman doctor in the United States.
In A Book of Medical Discourses that she will publish later, Rebecca tells her story:
“It may be well to say here that, having been brought up by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, who always tried to make herself useful to the sick, I developed a taste for relieving suffering very early on, and I looked for every opportunity to do so. Later, I devoted myself to becoming a nurse and worked for different doctors for eight years (from 1852 to 1860); most in my adopted hometown of Charlestown (Middlesex County, Massachusetts). From these doctors, I received letters of recommendation for the New England Female Medical College where, four years later, I received the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
(“It may be well to state here that, having been reared by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, whose usefulness with the sick was continually sought, I early conceived a liking for, and sought every opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others Later in life I devoted my time, when best I could, to nursing as a business, serving under different doctors for a period of eight years (from 1852 to 1860); most of the time at my adopted home in Charlestown, Middlesex County , Massachusetts. From these doctors I received letters commending me to the faculty of the New England Female Medical College, whence, four years afterward, I received the degree of doctor of medicine.”)
A Book of Medical Discourses
Around the same time, Rebecca married Dr. Arthur Crumpler. Initially, she practiced medicine in Boston. At the end of the Civil War, in 1865, she moved to Richmond, Virginia, a former southern slave state, where she worked to treat freed slaves for free. She is particularly interested in the health and medical problems of women and children. Rebecca works for the Refugee Office, a body created to help war refugees, and is subject to racism and sexism there, especially from her medical colleagues.
In 1880 Arthur moved to Hyde Park, Massachusetts, and Rebecca accompanied him there, but there was little demand for his services in the community. In 1883, when she was no longer practicing medicine, she compiled the notes she had taken during her career and published them in the book A Book of Medical Discourses , one of the first works on medicine written by an African-American and which is particularly interested in women and children. She dedicates it to nurses and mothers.
Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler died on March 9, 1895 in Hyde Park.