DeepSummary
Rebecca Crumpler was the first Black woman in the United States to earn a medical degree, graduating from the New England Female Medical College in 1864 with the degree of Doctress of Medicine. She practiced medicine focusing on the care and treatment of women and children, and in 1883 published one of the first medical texts by a Black person in the US titled 'A Book of Medical Discourses in Two Parts.'
The book offered health advice and medical treatments interwoven with Crumpler's own experiences, covering topics like pregnancy, newborn care, menstruation, and public health. It aimed to provide accessible medical knowledge to women and highlighted issues like early schooling, ventilation, and economic factors impacting health.
Crumpler faced some opposition during her studies but was ultimately allowed to graduate in deference to public sentiment around abolition during the Civil War era. After her death in 1895, her grave remained unmarked until 2020 when a fundraising effort installed a gravestone honoring her pioneering achievements.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Rebecca Crumpler was the first Black woman in the United States to earn a medical degree in 1864.
- She focused her medical practice on caring for women and children.
- In 1883, she published one of the earliest medical texts by a Black American author.
- Her book provided accessible health advice rooted in her experiences and observations.
- Crumpler faced opposition but persisted, reflecting the changing racial attitudes of the Civil War era.
- Despite her pioneering achievements, Crumpler's grave remained unmarked until 2020.
- Her gravestone honors her lasting impact on medicine and advocacy for health equity.
- Crumpler's life exemplified breaking barriers while prioritizing care for underserved communities.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “...while I feel under no obligations to them for their charity, I must admit their honesty and truthfulness in the matter. For surely women cannot fill a single position in the world so freighted with material out of which the moral and physical condition of humanity can be affected, either for good or evil.“ by Rebecca Crumpler
- “Probably the greatest amount of mischief arising from the administration of baby teas lies in the fact that they are not given with the least certainty as to their effect upon the system of the child, whether to nourish the blood or physic the bowels.“ by Rebecca Crumpler
- “It is my serious opinion that thousands of children die annually in the city of Boston under five years of age from diseases brought on through the excitement of expecting to go to school, the early change, the exposures from actual compulsory attendance.“ by Rebecca Crumpler
- “So few people that depend on their bodily strength from day to day stop to think that pure air is the all essential element, and that without light, air and sun in their dwellings, the poisonous gases cannot leave them, but they must sooner or later succumb to them.“ by Rebecca Crumpler
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Stuff You Missed in History Class
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2/26/24
Rebecca Crumpler was the first Black woman in the United States to earn a medical degree. She also wrote one of the first, if not the first, medical texts by a Black person in the United States.
Research:
- Allen, Patrick S. “‘We must attack the system’: The Print Practice of Black ‘Doctresses’.” Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory, Volume 74, Number 4, Winter 2018. https://doi.org/10.1353/arq.2018.0023
- Boston African American National Historic Site. “Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler.” National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/people/dr-rebecca-lee-crumpler.htm
- The Boston Globe. “Boston’s Oldest Pupil.” 4/3/1898.
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Rebecca Lee Crumpler". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jan. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rebecca-Lee-Crumpler. Accessed 7 February 2024.
- Cazalet, Sylvain. “New England Female Medical College & New England Hospital for Women and Children.” http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/histo/newengland.htm
- “The Colored People’s Memorial.” The News Journal. 17 Mar 1874.
- Crumpler, Rebecca. “A Book of Medical Discourses: In Two Parts.” Boston : Cashman, Keating, printers. 1883. https://archive.org/details/67521160R.nlm.nih.gov/mode/2up
- Granshaw, Michelle. “Georgia E.L. Patton.” Black Past. 12/19/2009. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/patton-georgia-e-l-1864-1900/
- Gregory, Samuel. “Doctor or Doctress?” Boston, 1868. https://digirepo.nlm.nih.gov/ext/dw/101183088/PDF/101183088.pdf
- Herbison, Matt. “Is that Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler? Misidentification, copyright, and pesky historical details.” Drexel University Legacy Center. 6/2013. https://drexel.edu/legacy-center/blog/overview/2013/june/is-that-dr-rebecca-lee-crumpler-misidentification-copyright-and-pesky-historical-details/
- Herwick, Edgar B. III. “The 'Doctresses Of Medicine': The World's 1st Female Medical School Was Established In Boston.” WGBH. 11/4/2016. https://www.wgbh.org/lifestyle/2016-11-04/the-doctresses-of-medicine-the-worlds-1st-female-medical-school-was-established-in-boston
- Janee, Dominique et al. “The U.S.’s First Black Female Physician Cared for Patients from Cradle to Grave.” Scientific American. 11/2/2023. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/americas-first-black-female-physician-cared-for-patients-from-cradle-to-grave/
- Klass, Perri. “‘To Mitigate the Afflictions of the Human Race’ — The Legacy of Dr. Rebecca Crumpler.” New England Journal of Medicine. 4/1/2021. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2032451
- Laskowski, Amy. “Trailblazing BU Alum Gets a Gravestone 125 Years after Her Death.” Bostonia. 8/7/2020. https://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/rebecca-lee-crumpler-first-black-female-physician-gets-gravestone-130-after-death/
- Markel, Howard. “Celebrating Rebecca Lee Crumpler, first African-American woman physician.” PBS NewsHour. 3/9/2016. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/celebrating-rebecca-lee-crumpler-first-african-american-physician
- "Rebecca Lee Crumpler." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 89, Gale, 2011. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606005213/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=0b5b3c23. Accessed 7 Feb. 2024.
- Sconyers, Jake. “Dr. Rebecca Crumpler, Forgotten No Longer (episode 200).” HUB History. 8/30/2020. https://www.hubhistory.com/episodes/dr-rebecca-crumpler-forgotten-no-longer-episode-200/
- "SETS IN COLORED SOCIETY.: MRS JOHN LEWIS IS THE MRS JACK GARDNER OF HER PEOPLE--MISS WASHINGTON A LEADER IN ARTISTIC CIRCLES--MEN AND WOMEN IN BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WALKS--THE PROMISE OF A POET." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Jul 22 1894, p. 29. ProQuest. Web. 8 Feb. 2024 .
- Shmerler, Cindy. “Overlooked No More: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Who Battled Prejudice in Medicine.” New York Times. 7/16/2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/obituaries/rebecca-lee-crumpler-overlooked.html
- Skinner, Carolyn. “Women Physicians and Professional Ethos in Nineteenth-Century America.” Southern Illinois University Press, 2014. Project MUSE. muse.jhu.edu/book/28490
- Spring, Kelly A. “Mary Eliza Mahoney.” National Women’s History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mahoney
- Tracey, Liz. “The ‘Doctress’ Was In: Rebecca Lee Crumpler.” JSTOR Daily. 3/9/2020. https://daily.jstor.org/the-doctress-was-in-rebecca-lee-crumpler/
- Wells, Susan. “Out of the Dead House: Nineteenth-Century Women Physicians and the Writing of Medicine.” University of Wisconsin Press, 2012. Project MUSE. muse.jhu.edu/book/16736
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