This article tells the life story of Rebecca Lee Crumpler, explaining who she was, what she accomplished, and why she is an important figure for Black History Month.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born on February 8, 1831, in Christiana, Delaware, and was raised in Pennsylvania by her aunt. Her aunt often cared for sick neighbors. Watching her aunt help others inspired Rebecca Lee Crumpler to pursue a life in medicine and caregiving.
In 1852, Rebecca Lee Crumpler was engaged to Wyatt Lee, an enslaved man from Virginia, who sadly passed away in 1863. Later in 1864, she also moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where she worked as a nurse. At a time when opportunities for African Americans and women were extremely limited, she stood out for her skills and dedication. Her supervising doctor was so impressed with her work that he recommended her to the New England Female Medical College. This was a big opportunity, because the college usually did not accept African Americans. However, it was a time when civil war was happening, and there was a greater need for medical professionals, which opened the door for her. She was accepted around 1860 and graduated in 1864, becoming the first African American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree and hold the title of physician.
After graduating in 1864, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler moved to Richmond, Virginia. There, she focused on treating women and children, especially those suffering from diseases. In 1865, She than got another engagement to Arthur Crumpler, who was a formerly enslaved man who escaped to freedom during civil war, working as a Union soldier. In 1866, she began providing medical care to enslaved people, most of whom were denied treatment by white doctors. This work was extremely important because many freed slaves had little or no access to healthcare. In 1867, she was titled as the first “historically black” medical school in the U.S., the Howard University College of Medicine, which would not open until 1868. As late as 1920, there were only 65 African-American women doctors in the United States.
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler faced intense racism and discrimination throughout her career. White physicians often disrespected her, ignored her, or refused to fill the prescriptions she wrote. Despite these obstacles, she continued to serve her patients with determination.
She also published a book in 1883 titled “A Book of Medical Discourses”. In it, she focused on the health of women and children, giving advice on how to treat and prevent illnesses. The book showed that she cared not only about helping individual patients, but also about teaching families and communities how to stay healthy.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler passed away due to a fibroid tumor on March 9, 1895, at age 64 in MassHyde Park, Boston, Massachusetts. Although she was not widely recognized during her lifetime, she was later honored through the Rebecca Lee Society, one of the first medical societies for African American women. Today, she is remembered as a trailblazer who broke barriers of race and gender in medicine and devoted her life to caring for those most in need. 125 years after her death, a headstone was added to her previously unmarked grave in 2020.
