was an American
physician and
author. After studying at
the New England Female Medical College, in 1864 she became the first
African-American woman to become a
doctor of medicine in the United States.
[a] Crumpler was the only female physician author in the nineteenth century. In 1883, she published
A Book of Medical Discourses. The book has two parts that cover the prevention and cure of infertile bowel complaints, and the life and growth of human beings. Dedicated to nurses and mothers, it focuses on maternal and pediatric medical care and was among the first publications written by an African American about medicine.
Crumpler graduated from medical college at a time when very few African Americans were allowed to attend medical college or publish books. Crumpler first practiced medicine in Boston, primarily serving poor women and children. After the
American Civil War ended in 1865, she moved to
Richmond, Virginia, believing treating women and children was an ideal way to perform missionary work. Crumpler worked for the
Freedmen's Bureau to provide medical care for freed
slaves.
She later moved back to Boston to continue to treat women and children. 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. Her Joy Street house is a stop on the
Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
Nursing and medical school
From 1855 to 1864, Crumpler was employed as a nurse.
[5] She was accepted into the New England Female Medical College in 1860. This school was founded by Drs. Israel Tisdale Talbot and Samuel Gregory.[2][3][7] She won a tuition award from the Wade Scholarship Fund, established by a bequest from local businessman John Wade of Woburn[8].
New England Female Medical College in 1860
It was rare for women or black men to be admitted to medical schools during this time. In 1860, due to the heavy demands of medical care for Civil War veterans,
[9] there were more opportunities for women physicians and doctors. Due to her talent, Crumpler was given a recommendation to attend the school by her supervising physician when she was a medical apprentice.
[3][5] That year, there were 54,543 physicians in the United States, 300 of whom were women. None of them were African Americans making Rebecca Lee Crumpler the first and only African American physician in her class.
[7][c]
Crumpler graduated from New England Female Medical College in 1864
[11][d] after having completed three years of coursework, a thesis, and final oral examinations in February 1864. On March 1, 1864, the board of trustees named her a
Doctor of Medicine.
[3] Married to Wyatt Lee at that time, she was identified as Mrs. Rebecca Lee by the school,
[7][10] where she was the only African American graduate. She was the country's first African-American woman to become a formally-trained physician.
[2][e]
Physician
Crumpler first practiced medicine in
Boston. She primarily cared for poor
African-American women and children.
[3] After the end of the
American Civil War (1861–1865), she moved to
Richmond, Virginia, believing it to be an ideal way to provide missionary service, as well as to gain more experience learning about diseases that affected women and children. She said of that time, "During my stay there nearly every hour was improved in that sphere of labor. The last quarter of the year 1866, I was enabled... to have access each day to a very large number of the indigent, and others of different classes, in a population of over 30,000 colored."
Crumpler worked for the
Freedmen's Bureau to provide medical care to freed
slaves who were denied care by white physicians.
[12] At the Freedmen's Bureau she worked under the assistant commissioner, Orlando Brown.
[7] Subject to intense racism by both the administration and other physicians,
[12] she had difficulty getting prescriptions filled and was ignored by male physicians.
[12] Some people heckled that the M.D. behind her name stood for "Mule Driver".
[2][3][f]Rebecca knew that being the first African American woman in this field would be challenging but she has resilience and overcame this adversity.
Crumpler moved to 67 Joy Street in Boston,
[13] a predominantly African-American community
street in
Beacon Hill. She practiced medicine and treated children without much concern for the parents' ability to pay.
[2] Her house is on the
Boston Women's Heritage Trail.[13]
Education
Nathaniel Topliff Allen Homestead, where the
West Newton English and Classical School was located beginning 1854
In the early 1870s, Crumpler attended the elite
West Newton English and Classical School in Massachusetts,
[5][14] where she was a "special student in mathematics".
[5] Crumpler taught in
Wilmington beginning in 1874 and in
New Castle, Delaware beginning in 1876.
[5]
A Book of Medical Discourses
In 1883, Crumpler published
A Book of Medical Discourses from the notes she kept over the course of her medical career. Dedicated to nurses and mothers,
[2][3] it focused on the medical care of women and children.
[15] Her main desire in presenting this book was to emphasize the "possibilities of prevention".
[16] Therefore, she recommended that women should study the mechanisms of human structure before becoming a nurse in order to better enable themselves to protect life. However, Crumpler stated that most nurses did not agree with this and tended to forget that for every ailment, there was a cause and it was within their power to remove it.
[16] Although her primary focus was on the health of women and children, which seemed to be influenced by
homeopathy, Crumpler recommended courses of treatment without stating that the treatment was homeopathic. She did not mention that medicine could be harmful, but stated the conventional amount of standard medicine usage.
[11] Her medical book is divided into two sections: in the first part she focuses on preventing and mitigating intestinal problems that can occur around the teething period until the child is about five years of age;
[7] the second part mainly focused on the following areas: "life and growth of beings", the beginning of womanhood and the prevention and cure of most of the "distressing complaints" of both sexes.
[17] Although the book was focussed on medical advice, Crumpler also ties in autobiographical details that contain political, social, and moral commentary.
[18] Specifically in the first chapter, Crumpler gave non-medical advice concerning her thoughts on what age and how a woman should enter into marriage. The chapter also contained advice for both men and women on how to ensure a happy marriage.
[19] Crumpler describes the progression of experiences that led her to study and practice medicine in her book:
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; 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 Doctress of Medicine.
[20][21]
At the time, writings and books by African-American authors had prefaces and introductions written in the style of white male writings to give them authentication. Crumpler was able to introduce her own text, and was also able to justify her work based on her own authority.
[18]
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