[1/7 Thread 👇] Today we salute another African-American pioneer and historical #frontliner: Doctor Rebecca Lee Crumpler, born in 1831.
#BlackLivesMatter #HistMed #OldOpTheatre
#BlackLivesMatter #HistMed #OldOpTheatre
[2/7] She was the first black woman doctor in the United States of America, obtaining her medical degree in 1864 in the middle of the American Civil War. Early on, Lee Crumpler was a nurse, and her transition to become a doctor was not an easy one!
[3/7] It took several letters of recommendation from doctors she used to work for, before she was able to secure a place to study at the New England Female Medical College, currently known as Boston University School of Medicine.
[4/7] Dr Lee Crumpler went on to work as a general practitioner focusing primarily on poor African-American women and children. She also provided medical care for the large number of freed slaves who would otherwise not have had access to it after the American Civil War.
[5/7] She was subject to intense racism and sexism while practicing medicine, but she persevered regardless! She later published a book called ‘A Book of Medical Discourses’.
[6/7] Dedicated to nurses and mothers, it focused on maternal and pediatric medical care and was one of the first publications written by an African American about medicine.
[7/7] Dr Lee Crumpler was in fact the only female physician author in the 19th century. She died in 1895 at the age of 64. #extraordinarypeople #histmed #herstory
