[2][5] That year, there were 54,543 physicians in the United States, 300 of whom were women. “Gravestone Dedicated to the First Black Female Medical Doctor in the US - The Boston Globe.” The Boston Globe, 17 July 2020. in 1864. "Female Medical College of 100 Years Ago Had Two Professors and Not Even a Skeleton", "Trailblazing BU Alum Gets a Gravestone 130 Years after Her Death", "Celebrating Rebecca Lee Crumpler, first African-American woman physician", "Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes First Black Woman to Receive M.D. She did not mention that medicine could be harmful, but stated the conventional amount of standard medicine usage. [28][29] On July 16, 2020, a ceremony was held at the Fairview Cemetery to dedicate a gravestone in memory of Rebecca Lee Crumpler and her husband Arthur. She completed medical school at the New England Female Medical College and received her M.D. … Presumed portrait of Rebecca Lee Crumpler as a nurse | Source: Wikimedia … Indeed, the doctors were so taken with her abilities that they recommended her for the New England Female Medical College—one of the few in the United States accepting women at the time, let alone a Black woman. [28] She and her husband Arthur are both buried at the nearby Fairview Cemetery. [37], In 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared March 30 (National Doctors Day) the Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day.[4]. [38] Rebecca Lee Crumpler and her husband Arthur Crumpler also received new granite headstones to celebrate her achievement of being a pioneer physician who earned her medical degree in Boston. [5] Crumpler taught in Wilmington beginning in 1874 and in New Castle, Delaware beginning in 1876.[5]. Born in Delaware in 1831 , Crumpler’s parents were Absolum Davis … Crumpler worked for the Freedmen's Bureau to provide medical care to freed slaves who were denied care by white physicians. [32] By 1880, the Crumplers moved to Hyde Park, Boston. [7][22] This was Wyatt’s second, and her first, marriage. Dr. Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler was the first African American woman doctor in the United States. Born in 1824, he was the son of Samuel Crumpler, a slave of Benjamin Crumpler. In 1860, there were only 300 women out of 54,543 physicians in the United States and none of them were [Black]. Her aunt spent a great deal of time caring for the sick in her community. She primarily cared for poor African-American women and children. A true pioneer, she battled deep-seated prejudice against women and African Americans in medicine. [4] In 1883, she published A Book of Medical Discourses. She moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1852, where she worked as a nurse before applying and becoming accepted into the New England Female Medical College. Breaking Ground: Building a Different Future This presentation examines the triumphs of Rebecca Lee Crumpler and other firsts in medicine, and the benefits of embracing diversity moving forward. "Biography of Rebecca Lee Crumpler, First Black Female Physician in U.S." ThoughtCo, Dec. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/rebecca-lee-crumpler-biography-45294. [31], Crumpler spoke at a service for Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner upon his death in 1874. Cover of A Book of Medical Discourses by Rebecca Lee Crumpler.Source: … At Syracuse University there is a pre-health club named "The Rebecca Lee Pre-Health Society". Her aunt's work in the medical field would have an abiding influence on Davis for the rest of her life, as she later wrote in "A Book of Medical Discourses": In 1852, Davis moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, married Wyatt Lee, and took his last name, changing her name to Rebecca Davis Lee. 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.