Honoring Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler and Thanking Boston University

Although Black female physicians represent a paltry 2% of the physician workforce in the United States, that number would be a shameful zero if it had not been for Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler. Not only was she the first Black female physician accepted to a U.S. med school, but that school was my alma mater, Boston University School of Medicine.

When I entered BUSM in 1983, there were no busts or statutes of Dr. Crumpler on campus and I would only learn about our amazing connection 30 years later at an alumni reunion weekend. I honestly think my beloved alma mater did not understand how much Black women loved Dr. Crumpler and the meaning of her sacrifice. She and her husband, Arthur, lie in unmarked graves in Hyde Park, MA, for 125 years until local charities, all four Massachusetts medical schools and a fellow alum, Dr. Melody McCloud raised $5,000.00 to erect two headstones to commemorate both her life and death.

Although her career began as a nurse, she was encouraged to apply to the New England Female Medical College (NEFMC) by the male physicians with whom she worked. She was accepted in 1860 and graduated in 1864. The NEFMC had the support of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, a staunch abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. According to Wikipedia, 300 women attended NEFMC from 1848 to 1870, but only 5…