Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler challenged the prejudice that prevented African Americans and women from pursuing medical careers. Despite her achievements, very little is known about Dr. Crumpler and her life story is still being written.
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born Rebecca Davis in 1831 in Christiana, Delaware to Absolum Davis and Matilda Webber. Her childhood was spent with an aunt in Pennsylvania. Her aunt frequently cared for sick neighbors, and Crumpler accompanied her aunt on these trips. In her book, published in 1883, Crumpler wrote these experiences with her aunt inspired her to go into medicine. Crumpler wrote, “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 be in a position to relieve the sufferings of others.”
By 1852, Crumpler had moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts to begin her medical career as a nurse. In the early 1850s, there was no formal school where one could become licensed as a nurse (the first one opened in 1873), so she performed her medical duties without any formal education.
In 1860, Crumpler became the first—and only—African American woman accepted to the New England Female Medical College in Boston. The College, established in 1848, was the first to award MD’s to women. It was also unique in that it allowed Crumpler to attend as most medical schools barred all African Americans—both men and women—from attending. Crumpler attended the school on a scholarship from the Wade Scholarship Fund created by Ohio abolitionist Benjamin Wade.