HR0517 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0517 LRB103 35288 ECR 65321 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to recognize Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. on her legacy of becoming the first Black female doctor in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler was born Rebecca Davis in Delaware on February 8, 1831; she was raised by an aunt in Pennsylvania who often cared for sick neighbors, influencing her decision to pursue a career in medicine; she proceeded to move to Massachusetts and became a nurse in the 1850s; and

WHEREAS, During a time when most medical schools barred Black students, Dr. Crumpler attended the New England Female Medical College (NEFMC), the first school in the U.S. to train women in the field of medicine; she graduated from NEFMC in 1864, thereby becoming the first Black female doctor in the U.S.; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler began practicing medicine in Boston before relocating to Richmond, Virginia towards the end of the American Civil War; she collaborated with the Freedmen's Bureau and other charity and missionary groups to care for freed African Americans, many of whom had never seen a doctor due to having been denied medical care by their former enslavers or had suffered harrowing experiences by a racist medical system that treated them as less than human; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler continued to practice after returning to Boston in the late 1860s, where she treated patients in and around her home, regardless of their ability to pay; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler published A Book of Medical Discourses in 1883, chronicling her experiences as a doctor and featuring advice on treating illnesses in infants, young children, and women of childbearing age; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler married twice and had one child, Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler passed away in Boston on March 9, 1895; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler's life and work demonstrate her talent and determination to help others in the face of prejudice against her gender and race; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. on her legacy as the first Black woman to earn a medical degree in the United States and her contributions to the field of medicine.