'Doctress' Rebecca Crumpler
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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Rebecca Crumpler's Medical Advice and Advocacy
The chapter delves into 'Doctress' Rebecca Crumpler's book, focusing on her medical advice and personal experiences, challenging societal norms of her time. It highlights her views on newborn care, public health, and disease prevention, emphasizing the importance of proper treatment and self-care. The episode also touches on efforts to honor Rebecca's legacy and discusses the historical context surrounding other prominent black women in the medical field.
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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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