Rebecca Lee Crumpler
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Rebecca Lee Crumpler (born Rebecca Davis, February 8, 1831Template:Spaced ndashMarch 9, 1895) was an American physician, nurse and author. She was the first African-American female doctor of medicine, qualifying at the New England Female Medical College in 1864.Template:Efn Crumpler was also one of the first female physician authors in the nineteenth century.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1883, she published A Book of Medical Discourses. The book has two parts that cover the prevention and cure of infantile 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 on the subject of medicine.
Crumpler graduated from medical college at a time when very few African Americans were permitted to attend medical college āor 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 freedmen and freedwomen.
Crumpler was subject to "intense racism" and sexism while practicing medicine. During this time, many men believed that a nearly immutable difference in average brain size between men and women explained the difference in social, political, and intellectual attainment.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Rp Because of this, many male physicians did not respect Crumpler, and would not approve her prescriptions for patients or listen to her medical opinions.
Crumpler later returned to Boston, where she continued 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,<ref name="NYTimes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Subscription required</ref> were named after her. Her Joy Street house in Beacon Hill is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
Early life and educationEdit
On February 8, 1831, Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born Rebecca Davis in Christiana, Delaware to Matilda Webber and Absolum Davis.<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref name="Bay State Banner" /><ref name="Fay" /><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was raised in Pennsylvania by her aunt who cared for ill townspeople.<ref name="NLM Biography" /><ref name="Gates">Template:Cite book</ref> Her aunt acted as the doctor in her community and had a huge influence on Crumpler's decision to pursue a career in medicine.<ref name=":0" /> She attended a private school, the West Newton English and Classical School in West Newton, Massachusetts as a “special student.”<ref name="PBS">Template:Cite news</ref> Crumpler moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1852.
EducationEdit
Nursing and medical schoolEdit
From 1855 to 1864, Crumpler was employed as a nurse.<ref name="Fay" />Template:Efn<ref name="PBS" /> She was accepted into the New England Female Medical College for the 1859–1860 academic year.<ref name="NLM Biography"/><ref name="Gates" /><ref name="PBS" /> She received scholarships for all three years at the school, initially from a fund provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and later from the Wade Scholarship Fund, established at the school by a bequest from local businessman and Massachusetts legislator John Wade of Woburn.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> She was the only African-American student at the school.<ref name=":2" />
In the mid-19th century, it was rare for women or black men to be admitted to medical school. In 1860, due to the heavy demands of medical care for American Civil War veterans,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> opportunities increased 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.<ref name="Gates" /><ref name="Fay" /> That year, there were 54,543 physicians in the United States, 270 of them were women — all white — and 180 were Black men.<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref name="PBS" />
Crumpler graduated from New England Female Medical College in 1864<ref name=Davidson />Template:Efn after having completed three years of coursework, a thesis, and final oral examinations in February 1864. On March 1, 1864, the school's board of trustees named her a Doctor of Medicine.<ref name="NYTimes" />Template:Efn<ref name="Gates" /> Married to Wyatt Lee at that time, she was identified as Mrs. Rebecca Lee by the school,<ref name="PBS" /><ref name="ANB" /> where she was the only African-American graduate. She was the country's first African-American woman to become a formally-trained physician.<ref name="NLM Biography">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn
PhysicianEdit
Crumpler first practiced medicine in Boston and primarily cared for poor African-American women and children.<ref name="Gates" /> 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 freedmen and freedwomen who were denied care by white physicians.<ref name="McCloud">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the Freedmen's Bureau, she worked under the assistant commissioner, Orlando Brown.<ref name="PBS" /> Subject to intense racism by both the administration and other physicians,<ref name="McCloud"/> she had difficulty getting prescriptions filled and was ignored by male physicians.<ref name="McCloud"/> Some people heckled that the M.D. behind her name stood for "Mule Driver".<ref name="NLM Biography" /><ref name="Gates" />Template:Efn
Crumpler moved to 67 Joy Street in Boston,<ref name="BWHT" /> a predominantly African-American community in the North Slope of Beacon Hill.<ref name="NYTimes" /> She practiced medicine and treated children without much concern for the parents' ability to pay.<ref name="NLM Biography" /> Her house is on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.<ref name="BWHT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
EducationEdit
In 1860, bearing letters of recommendation from her physician-employers, Crumpler was accepted into the elite West Newton English and Classical School in Massachusetts,<ref name="Gates"/><ref name="Fay" /><ref name="Newton - Allen">Template:Cite news</ref> where she was a "special student in mathematics".<ref name="Fay">Template:Cite book</ref> Crumpler taught in Wilmington, beginning in 1874 and in New Castle, Delaware, beginning in 1876.<ref name="Fay" />
A Book of Medical DiscoursesEdit
In 1883, Crumpler published A Book of Medical Discourses<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> from the notes she kept over the course of her medical career. Dedicated to nurses and mothers,<ref name="NLM Biography" /><ref name="Gates" /> it focused on the medical care of women and children.<ref name="Darlene Clark in Shining Threat">Template:Cite book</ref> Her main desire in presenting this book was to emphasize the "possibilities of prevention".<ref name=":12">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name=":12" /> 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.<ref name=Davidson /> 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;<ref name="PBS" /> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Although the book was focused on medical advice, Crumpler also ties in autobiographical details that contain political, social, and moral commentary.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> Specifically in the first chapter, Crumpler gave non-medical advice concerning 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.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
She wrote, “Parents should hold onto their children, and children should stand by their parents, until the last strand of the silken cord is broken.”<ref name="NYTimes" />
At the time, many writings and books by African-American authors had prefaces and introductions written in the style of white male writings to give them authentication. Crumpler introduced her own text, and justified her work based on her own authority.<ref name=":1" /> She regularly refers to her own experience and opinions in the work, establishing herself as a skilled expert whose advice should be followed, while presenting this advice in a familiar and personal style directly to the women who are intended as its primary audience. An article in 1894 in The Boston Globe described the book as “valuable” and Crumpler as “a very pleasant and intellectual woman” and “an indefatigable church worker.”<ref name="NYTimes" />
Personal lifeEdit
While living in Charlestown, Rebecca Davis married Wyatt Lee, a laborer from Virginia who was formerly enslaved.<ref name="NYTimes" /> They were married on April 19, 1852.<ref name="PBS" /><ref>Template:Citation</ref> This was Wyatt's second, and her first, marriage.<ref>Marriage Intentions, 1849–1858; Vol. 3. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988</ref> A year later Wyatt's son, Albert, died at age 7.<ref>Albert Lee, Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841–1915</ref> This tragedy may have motivated Rebecca to begin her study of nursing for the next eight years. Rebecca was a medical student when her husband died of tuberculosis on April 18, 1863. He is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Boston.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Dr. Rebecca Lee married Arthur Crumpler in Saint John, New Brunswick on May 24, 1865.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Arthur was formerly enslaved and escaped bondage from Southampton County, Virginia. Born in 1824, he was the son of Samuel Crumpler, who was enslaved by Benjamin Crumpler. Arthur lived on the neighboring estate of a large landowner, Robert Adams, with his mother and siblings. When Adams died, his family was sold and nine-year-old Arthur was kept by Robert Adams' son, John Adams of Smithfield, Virginia, after Arthur won a wrestling contest with John on the day of the estate auction. Except for one sister, he never found out the whereabouts of the people who continued enslaving and "purchased" his family members. He served with the Union Army at Fort Monroe, Virginia as a blacksmith, based upon his training and experience. He went to Massachusetts in 1862 and was taken in by Nathaniel Allen, founder of the West Newton English and Classical School, also called the Allen School.<ref name="Bay State Banner">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Rebecca and Arthur Crumpler were active members of the Twelfth Baptist Church, where Arthur was a trustee.<ref name="Bay State Banner" /> They had a home at 20 Garden Street in Boston.<ref name="Bay State Banner" /> Their daughter Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler was born in mid-December 1870,<ref>Massachusetts, Birth Records, 1840–1915, [Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler, December 1870, Boston, Massachusetts, Arthur and Rebecca Crumpler]</ref> but as no other records have been found, it is believed the child did not survive infancy.<ref name="NYTimes" /> For instance, Crumpler and her husband Arthur lived in Hyde Park, Massachusetts in 1880, but they did not have a child living with them at that time.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Crumpler spoke at a funeral service for Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner upon his death in 1874. She read a poem that she had written for him, where "she touchingly alluded to his love for the gifted Emerson."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 1880, the Crumplers moved to Hyde Park, Boston.<ref name="Bay State Banner" />
Although no photographs or other images of Crumpler survive,<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a Boston Globe article described her as "59 or 60 years of age, tall and straight, with light brown skin and gray hair."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> About marriage, she said the secret to a successful marriage "is to continue in the careful routine of the courting days, till it becomes well understood between the two."<ref name="Bay State Banner" />
Rebecca Crumpler died of fibroid tumors on March 9, 1895,<ref name="NYTimes" /> in Fairview, Massachusetts, while still residing in Hyde Park.<ref name="Bay State Banner" /> Arthur died in May, 1910,<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref> and they are both buried at the nearby Fairview Cemetery.<ref name="auto"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Rebecca and Arthur Crumpler were buried in unmarked graves for 125 years, until July 16, 2020, when granite headstones were donated for their gravesite.<ref name=":2" /><ref>Brian MacQuarrie, "Gravestone Dedicated to the First Black Female Medical Doctor in the US". Boston Globe, July 18, 2020, p. B1.</ref> The granite stone was the result of a fundraising appeal led by the Friends of the Hyde Park Library.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="NYTimes" />
LegacyEdit
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The Rebecca Lee Society, one of the first medical societies for African-American women, was named in Crumpler's honor.<ref name="Gates" /> Her home on Joy Street is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared March 30 (National Doctors Day) the Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day.<ref name=":2" />
At Syracuse University there is a pre-health club named "The Rebecca Lee Pre-Health Society". This club encourages people of diverse backgrounds to pursue health professions. They offer mentors, workshops, and resources to help members succeed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
February 8, 2021, was declared "Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day" in Boston as part of the 190th anniversary of her birth.<ref name="bu 20210207">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2021, poet Jessy Randall honored Crumpler in a poem called "Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831–1895)", published in the Women's Review of Books and reprinted in her 2022 collection Mathematics for Ladies: Poems on Women in Science.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- "Female Medical College of 100 Years Ago Had Two Professors and Not Even a Skeleton", O'Brien, Mary; Daily Boston Globe (1928–1960); October 21, 1948; p. 20.
- Template:Cite book
External linksEdit
- Rebecca Lee Crumpler, First African American Woman Doctor
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Template:Boston African American community pre-Civil War Template:Authority control