author
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
1831–1895
A medical pioneer who broke barriers in 19th-century America, she became the first Black woman in the United States to earn an M.D. Her work caring for women, children, and formerly enslaved people led to one of the earliest medical books by an African American author.
1 Audiobook
A Book of Medical Discourses, in Two Parts
by Rebecca Lee Crumpler
About the author
Born Rebecca Davis on February 8, 1831, in Christiana, Delaware, she was raised in Pennsylvania by an aunt who cared for sick neighbors, an experience that helped shape her interest in medicine. Before entering medical school, she worked for years as a nurse in Massachusetts.
In 1864, she graduated from the New England Female Medical College, becoming the first African American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree. After the Civil War, she practiced in Richmond, Virginia, where she treated freedpeople and focused especially on the health of women and children despite the racism and sexism she faced.
In 1883, she published A Book of Medical Discourses, drawing on her medical experience and offering practical guidance on maternal and child health. She died on March 9, 1895, in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, but her legacy has only grown as more readers and historians have recognized how far ahead of her time she was.