The first medical school for women opened in Boston, Massachusetts, on this date in 1848. It was started by Samuel Gregory, (April 19, 1813 – March 23, 1872) who named it the Boston Female Medical College. The first class — 12 women in all — graduated just two years later, in 1850. Gregory’s own formal medical training consisted of a summer lecture course that he had taken in anatomy and physiology. He wasn’t remotely a supporter of women’s rights, but he believed it was unseemly for male doctors to assist women in childbirth, so the college was mostly intended to serve as a school for midwives at first.
He graduated from Yale College in 1840, and in 1853 received the honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from Yale University and another from Penn Medical University.
He continued to be the secretary of this institution until his death, and had the satisfaction of seeing it firmly established. He died in Boston, Massachusetts of consumption, March 23, 1872. He was unmarried.
In 1856, the school’s name was changed to the New England Female Medical College; it named among its graduates Rebecca Lee Crumper, the first African-American to earn a medical degree, which she did in 1864.
From 1855 to 1864, Crumpler was employed as a nurse. She was accepted into the New England Female Medical College for the 1859–1860 academic year. 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. She was the only African-American student at the school
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, 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. That year, there were 54,543 physicians in the United States, 270 of them were women — all white — and 180 were Black men.
Crumpler graduated from New England Female Medical College in 1864 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. Married to Wyatt Lee at that time, she was identified as Mrs. Rebecca Lee by the school, where she was the only African-American graduate. She was the country's first African-American woman to become a formally-trained physician.
Crumpler first practiced medicine in Boston and primarily cared for poor African-American women and children. 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.[15] At the Freedmen's Bureau, she worked under the assistant commissioner, Orlando Brown. Subject to intense racism by both the administration and other physicians, she had difficulty getting prescriptions filled and was ignored by male physicians. Some people heckled that the M.D. behind her name stood for "Mule Driver".
Crumpler moved to 67 Joy Street in Boston, a predominantly African-American community in the North Slope of Beacon Hill. She practiced medicine and treated children without much concern for the parents' ability to pay. Her house is on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
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In 1883, Crumpler published A Book of Medical Discourses from the notes she kept over the course of her medical career. Dedicated to nurses and mothers, it focused on the medical care of women and children. Her main desire in presenting this book was to emphasize the "possibilities of prevention". 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. 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. 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; 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. Although the book was focused on medical advice, Crumpler also ties in autobiographical details that contain political, social, and moral commentary. 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. 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.
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.”
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. 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.”
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The Rebecca Lee Society, one of the first medical societies for African-American women, was named in Crumpler's honor.
In 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared March 30 (National Doctors Day) the Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day.
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.
February 8, 2021, was declared "Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day" in Boston as part of the 190th anniversary of her birth.
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From Wikipedia where there are many footnotes.
Thanks to Writer's Almanac which got me started on this post!
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