'Doctress' Rebecca Crumpler

Feb 26, 2024

Explore the pioneering achievements of Rebecca Crumpler, the first black woman to earn a medical degree in the US. Learn about her impactful work as a medical writer and practitioner, challenging societal norms. Delve into her post-Civil War activities, teaching endeavors, and significant contributions to healthcare. Discover Dr. Crumpler's medical advice, advocacy, and the historical context of other black women in medicine.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Exploring the Pioneering Achievements of Rebecca Crumpler in Medicine

01:33 • 2min

Rebecca Davis: A Trailblazing Journey in Medicine

03:19 • 7min

Pioneering Black Women in Medicine

10:41 • 5min

Dr. Rebecca Crumpler's Post-Civil War Activities

15:22 • 6min

Rebecca Crumpler's Later Years and Medical Discourses

21:38 • 5min

Rebecca Crumpler's Medical Advice and Advocacy

26:27 • 18min

Discussion on Mundane Objects, Podcast Contact, and Sponsor Ads for Bank of America, Papa Murphy's, and Roku

44:36 • 3min

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:

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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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