View source for Rebecca Lee Crumpler

{{short description|American physician (1831–1895)}}
{{good article}}
{{use American English|date=June 2015}}
{{use mdy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{infobox scientist
| name              = Rebecca Lee Crumpler
| caption           = <!----No known photo of Rebecca Lee Crumpler. See Drexler and New York Times sources and mistaken identy ---->
| birth_name        = Rebecca Davis
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1831|02|08}}
| birth_place       = [[Delaware]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1895|03|09|1831|02|08}}
| death_place       = [[Hyde Park, Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
| resting_place     = [[Fairview Cemetery (Boston, Massachusetts)|Fairview Cemetery]], [[Boston]], Massachusetts
| nationality       =
| field             = Medicine
| alma_mater        = [[New England Female Medical College]] (Now [[Boston University]])
| workplaces        =
| known_for         = First African-American woman to receive a medical degree
| spouse            = {{unbulleted list
|               {{marriage|Wyatt Lee|April 19, 1852|April 18, 1863|reason=his death}}
|               {{marriage|Arthur Crumpler|May 24, 1865}}
  }}
}}
[[File:Crumpler A-Book-of-Medical-Discourses.jpg|thumb|''A Book of Medical Discourses'' (1883) by Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. ]]
'''Rebecca Lee Crumpler''' (born '''Rebecca Davis''', February 8, 1831{{spaced ndash}}March 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.{{efn|[[Rebecca Cole]] was thought to be the first African American female physician. Subsequent research shows Crumpler was first (1864),<ref name="NLM Biography" /> Cole second (1867) and [[Susan McKinney Steward]] third.<ref name="Gates" /><ref>{{cite book|author1=Vernon L. Farmer|author2=Evelyn Shepherd Wynn|title=Voices of Historical and Contemporary Black American Pioneers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AR6iOVCUri0C&pg=PA11|access-date=May 3, 2013|year=2012|publisher= [[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-0-313-39224-5|pages=11–12}}</ref>|name=First}} Crumpler was also one of the first female physician authors in the nineteenth century.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Trailblazing BU Alum Gets a Gravestone 130 Years after Her Death|url=http://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/rebecca-lee-crumpler-first-black-female-physician-gets-gravestone-130-after-death/|access-date=2021-01-03|website=Boston University|date=August 10, 2020 |language=en}}</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 medicine|maternal]] and [[Pediatrics|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 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|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 [[Freedman|freedmen and freedwomen]].

Crumpler was subject to "[[racism|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>{{cite magazine |last1=Romanes |first1=George John |title=Mental Differences of Men and Women |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_31/July_1887/Mental_Differences_of_Men_and_Women |magazine=Popular Science Monthly|volume=31|date=July 1887|access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref>{{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">{{Cite web |title=Overlooked No More: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Who Battled Prejudice in Medicine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/obituaries/rebecca-lee-crumpler-overlooked.html |last=Shmerler |first=Cindy |website=New York Times |date=July 17, 2021 |access-date=February 27, 2025}}{{Subscription required}}</ref> were named after her.  Her Joy Street house in [[Beacon Hill, Boston|Beacon Hill]] is a stop on the [[Boston Women's Heritage Trail]].

==Early life and education==
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">{{cite web|title=Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler|url=https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_73.html|website=Changing the Face of Medicine|publisher=U.S. National Library of Medicine|access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref> She was raised in [[Pennsylvania]] by her aunt who cared for ill townspeople.<ref name="NLM Biography" /><ref name="Gates">{{cite book|author1=Henry Louis Gates|author2=Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham|title=African American Lives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dXw6gR2GgkC&pg=PA200|access-date=May 2, 2013|date= March 23, 2004|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-988286-1|pages=199–200}}</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">{{cite news |author=Dr. Howard Markel |date=March 9, 2016 |title=Celebrating Rebecca Lee Crumpler, first African American woman physician |website=PBS News |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/celebrating-rebecca-lee-crumpler-first-african-american-physician |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> Crumpler moved to [[Charlestown, Boston|Charlestown]], Massachusetts, in 1852.

==Education==
===Nursing and medical school===
From 1855 to 1864, Crumpler was employed as a nurse.<ref name="Fay" />{{efn|Formal training was not required until nursing schools were established, which did not occur until 1873.<ref name="NLM Biography" />}}<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, Massachusetts|Woburn]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fissel|first=Brian M.|date=2018|title=The Wade Professorship of Medicine|url=https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/34830|journal=Aceso|volume=6|pages=11–15|via=OpenBU}}</ref> She was the only African-American student at the school.<ref name=":2" />

[[File:New England Female Medical College.jpg|thumb|left|[[New England Female Medical College]] in 1860]]
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>{{Cite magazine|title=Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes First Black Woman to Receive M.D. Degree|magazine=The Chicago Citizen, Chatham-Southeast edition|url=https://issuu.com/chicagocitizennewspapers/docs/chatham_february_24__2016_|date=February 24, 2014 |page=3 }}</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 />{{efn|Claims have been made that she was "homeopathically trained", and gained a lot of knowledge from other pioneers in her field at the medical college.<ref name=Davidson>{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=Jonathan |chapter=Women, Reform, and Medical Leadership|title=A Century of Homeopaths|year= 2014|page=9|doi=10.1007/978-1-4939-0527-0_3|isbn=978-1-4939-0526-3 }}</ref> However, Crumpler and the many other pioneers are not recognized, nor does "history record them as homeopathic practitioners".<ref name=Davidson />}} after having completed three years of coursework, a [[thesis]], and final [[Oral examination|oral examinations]] in February 1864. On March 1, 1864, the school's [[Board of Trustees|board of trustees]] named her a [[Doctor of Medicine]].<ref name="NYTimes" />{{efn|The faculty was hesitant to pass Crumpler because they thought she showed slow progress in learning. They ended up passing her. The doctors whom Crumpler worked with while in medical school helped persuade the faculty to pass her.<ref name="ANB">{{Cite journal|title=Crumpler, Rebecca Davis Lee (1831–1895), physician |journal= American National Biography |url=http://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1201058|language=en|doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1201058|year=2000|last1=Pfatteicher|first1=Sarah K. A.|isbn= 978-0-19-860669-7 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>}}<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">{{cite web | title=Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Biography  | url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_73.html | work=Changing the Face of Medicine | publisher= [[National Library of Medicine]] | access-date=May 2, 2013}}</ref>{{efn|The school closed in 1873 due to financial issues,<ref name=Davidson /> without graduating another black woman.<ref name="NLM Biography" /><ref name="Gates" /> |[[New England Female Medical College]] merged with [[Boston University School of Medicine]] and "adopted an exclusively homeopathic allegiance".<ref name=Davidson /> The school also staffed approximately 26 new homeopathic faculty members.<ref name=Davidson />}}

===Physician===
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 [[Freedman|freedmen and freedwomen]] who were denied care by white physicians.<ref name="McCloud">{{cite web|last=McCloud|first=Melody T.|title=Women's History Month Honors Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. First Black Female Physician in the United States|website=Psych Central.com|date=March 3, 2016|url=https://blogs.psychcentral.com/all-things/2016/03/womens-history-month-honors-rebecca-lee-crumpler-m-d-first-black-female-physician-in-the-united-states/|access-date=June 2, 2018|archive-date=June 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629022538/https://blogs.psychcentral.com/all-things/2016/03/womens-history-month-honors-rebecca-lee-crumpler-m-d-first-black-female-physician-in-the-united-states/|url-status=dead}}</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" />{{efn|The great need for medical providers encouraged other black people to join the medical profession. Black charitable organizations and white missionary organizations provided funding for the first black medical schools.<ref name="Gates" />}}

Crumpler moved to 67 Joy Street in Boston,<ref name="BWHT" /> a predominantly [[List of addresses in Beacon Hill, Boston|African-American community]] in the [[Beacon Hill, Boston#North_slope|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">{{Cite web |url=https://bwht.org/beacon-hill/ |title=Beacon Hill |website=Boston Women's Heritage Trail |access-date=April 10, 2020}}</ref>

===Education===
[[File:NewtonMA NathanielTopliffAllenHomestead.jpg|thumb|[[Nathaniel Topliff Allen Homestead]], where the [[West Newton English and Classical School]] was located beginning 1854]]
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">{{Cite news |url=http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/historic/research/collections/papers/allen.asp |title=Newton, MA – Allen Family |publisher=Historic Newton – Newton, Massachusetts government |access-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-date=June 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615032433/http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/historic/research/collections/papers/allen.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> where she was a "special student in mathematics".<ref name="Fay">{{Cite book |last=Fay |first=Eugene Francis |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedbiogr00faye |title=An Illustrated Biographical Catalogue of the Principals, Teachers, and Students of the West Newton English and Classical School, West Newton, Mass., 1854–1893: including an account of the re-unions November 15, 1871, and June 21, 1893 |publisher=R. Avery Supply Co. |year=1895 |location=Boston |page=23}}</ref> Crumpler taught in [[Wilmington, Delaware|Wilmington]], beginning in 1874 and in [[New Castle, Delaware]], beginning in 1876.<ref name="Fay" />

===''A Book of Medical Discourses''===
In 1883, Crumpler published ''A Book of Medical Discourses''<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Book of Medical Discourses, in Two Parts by Rebecca Lee Crumpler |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65188 |last=Crumpler |first=Rebecca Lee |website=Project Gutenberg |date=April 29, 2021 |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</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">{{cite book|first=Darlene Clark |last=Hine|author-link=Darlene Clark Hine|author2=Kathleen Thompson|title=A Shining Thread of Hope|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D514t4eNcssC&pg=PA162|access-date=April 17, 2015|publisher= [[Crown/Archetype]] |isbn=978-0-307-56822-9|page=162|date=October 14, 2009}}</ref> Her main desire in presenting this book was to emphasize the "possibilities of prevention".<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Crumpler|first=Rebecca Lee|url=https://archive.org/details/67521160R.nlm.nih.gov/page/n11/mode/2up|title=A Book of Medical Discourses -In Two Parts|publisher=Cashman, Keating, & Co.|year=1883|location=Boston|pages=3–4}}</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>{{Cite book|last=Crumpler|first=Rebecca Lee|url=https://archive.org/details/67521160R.nlm.nih.gov/page/n11/mode/2up|title=A Book of Medical Discourses – In Two Parts|publisher=Cashman, Keating, & Co.|year=1883|location=Boston}}</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">{{Cite journal|title=We must attach the system: The Print Practice of Black 'Doctresses'|last=Allen|first=Patrick S.|date=2018|journal=Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory|volume=74|issue=4|pages=87–113|doi=10.1353/arq.2018.0023|s2cid=165549022}}</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">{{Cite book|last=Crumpler|first=Rebecca Lee|url=https://archive.org/details/67521160R.nlm.nih.gov/page/n3/mode/2up|title=A Book of Medical Discourses – In Two Parts|publisher=Cashman, Keating, & Co.|year=1883|location=Boston|pages=5–6}}</ref>''' Crumpler describes the progression of experiences that led her to study and practice medicine in her book:

<blockquote>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>{{cite book|last1=Gregory, MD|first1=Samuel|title=Doctor or Doctress? | date=1868 |publisher=Trustees of New England Female Medical College |location=Boston|pages=8|url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HMS.COUNT:662781}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Crumpler, MD|first1=Rebecca|title=A Book of Medical Discourses: In Two Parts|date=1883|publisher=Cashman & Keating CO.|location=Boston|pages=158|url=https://archive.org/details/67521160R.nlm.nih.gov}}</ref></blockquote>

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 life==
While living in Charlestown, Rebecca Davis married Wyatt Lee, a laborer from [[Virginia]] who was formerly [[Slavery in Virginia|enslaved]].<ref name="NYTimes" /> They were married on April 19, 1852.<ref name="PBS" /><ref>{{citation|title=Wyatt Lee and Rebecca Davis marriage|date=April 19, 1852|publisher=Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840–1915. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records.}}</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 (Boston)|Mount Hope Cemetery]] in Boston.<ref>{{citation|title=Wyatt Lee, registered April 18, 1863, death April 17, 1863 |work=Deaths in Boston, Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records.|year=1863 }}</ref>

[[File:Arthur Crumpler, ex-slave, husband of Rebecca Crumpler.png|thumb|upright=.85|Arthur Crumpler, {{circa}}1898]]
Dr. Rebecca Lee married Arthur Crumpler in [[Saint John, New Brunswick]] on May 24, 1865.<ref>{{cite news|title=Marriage announcements|newspaper=The Religious Intelligencer|location=Saint John, New Brunswick|date=June 2, 1865}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Caroline Rance|title=The History of Medicine in 100 Facts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KxutCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT139|date=December 15, 2015|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-5004-3|page=PT139}}</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">{{cite news|url=http://baystatebanner.com/news/2012/sep/05/dr-crumpler-nations-first-african-american-woman/|title=Dr. Crumpler: Nation's first African American woman physician|author=Anthony W. Neal |date=September 5, 2012|website=The Bay State Banner|access-date=February 22, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Boston's Oldest Pupil: He's 74, and He Goes to the Evening School|website=The Boston Sunday Globe|date=April 3, 1898|page=25 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43552418/arthur_crumpler_boston_globe_1891/|via=newspapers.com (clipping) }}</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>{{citation| title=Rebecca and Arthur Crumpler| year=1880 | work=Hyde Park, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States Federal Census | publisher=National Archives | location= Washington, D.C. }}</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 [[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]]."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37415679/dr_rebecca_crumpler_read_an_original/|title=The Colored People's Memorial|newspaper=The News Journal|location=Wilmington, Delaware|date=March 17, 1874|page= 1|via=newspapers.com (clipping)}}</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>{{cite web |last1=Herbison |first1=Matt |title=Is That Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler? Misidentification, Copyright, and Pesky Historical Details |date=June 18, 2013 |url=https://drexel.edu/legacy-center/blog/overview/2013/june/is-that-dr-rebecca-lee-crumpler-misidentification-copyright-and-pesky-historical-details/ |publisher=Drexel University |access-date=3 Aug 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Shmerler |first=Cindy |date=2021-07-16 |title=Overlooked No More: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Who Battled Prejudice in Medicine |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/obituaries/rebecca-lee-crumpler-overlooked.html |access-date=2022-10-18 |issn=0362-4331}}</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>{{Cite book |last=Bolden |first=Tonya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8j6pDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT18 |title=Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM |date=2020-03-03 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-1-68335-629-5 |pages=PT18 |language=en}}</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">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37417098/exslave_laid_to_rest/ |title=Ex-slave laid to rest |date=May 11, 1910 |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=February 20, 2020 |page=4}}</ref> and they are both buried at the nearby Fairview Cemetery.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Adele Logan Alexander|author-link=Adele Logan Alexander|title=Homelands and Waterways: The American Journey of the Bond Family, 1846–1926|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_C_bxDH3G4C&pg=PA286|date=December 18, 2007|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42625-3|page=286}}</ref> Rebecca and Arthur Crumpler were buried in [[Unmarked grave|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">{{Cite web |last=MacQuarrie |first=Brian |date=2020-07-17 |title=Gravestone dedicated to the first Black female medical doctor in the US |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/17/metro/gravestone-dedicated-first-black-female-medical-doctor-us/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718124833/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/17/metro/gravestone-dedicated-first-black-female-medical-doctor-us/ |archive-date=2020-07-18 |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes" />

==Legacy==
[[File:Rebecca Crumpler and Arthur Crumpler gravesites at Fairview Cemetery March 2025 3 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Rebecca's and Arthur's gravestones at [[Fairview Cemetery (Boston, Massachusetts)|Fairview Cemetery]] in Boston|alt=Rebecca's and Arthur's gravestones. Rebecca's gravestone is inscribed with "The first black woman to earn a medical degre in the U.S. 1864".]]
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>{{cite web|url=http://bwht.org/beacon-hill/|title=Beacon Hill|website=Boston Women's Heritage Trail}}</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 sciences|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>{{Cite web|url=https://orgsync.com/10907/chapter|title=Rebecca Lee Pre-Health Society |website=orgsync.com|language=en|access-date=2018-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114101000/https://orgsync.com/10907/chapter|archive-date=November 14, 2018}}</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">{{cite web |url=https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/boston-honors-trailblazing-school-of-medicine-alum-rebecca-lee-crumpler-monday/ |title=Boston Honors Trailblazing School of Medicine Alum Rebecca Lee Crumpler (MED 1864) Monday |date=February 7, 2021 |publisher=Bostonia |access-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240105195613/https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/boston-honors-trailblazing-school-of-medicine-alum-rebecca-lee-crumpler-monday/ |url-status=live }}</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>{{cite book |last1=Ostrom |first1=Hans |last2=Macey Jr. |first2=J. David  |date=2023 |title=Forgotten African American Firsts: An Encyclopedia of Pioneering History |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=Greenwood |page=112 |isbn=978-1440875359}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Randall |first=Jessy |date=2022 |title=Mathematics for Ladies: Poems on Women in Science |location=London |publisher=Goldsmiths Press |isbn=978-1913380489}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Biography|Medicine}}
* [[List of African-American firsts]]
* [[List of Boston University people]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48413105/female-medical-college-of-100-years-ago/ "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.&nbsp;20.
* {{cite book |last1=Clinton |first1=Hillary |last2=Clinton |first2=Chelsea |title=The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience |year=2019 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=[[New York City]] |isbn=978-1501178412}}

==External links==
* [https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2008/01/rebecca-lee-crumpler.html Rebecca Lee Crumpler], First African American Woman Doctor
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Rebecca Lee Crumpler}}

{{Boston African American community pre-Civil War|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

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