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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to recognize Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D.
4on her legacy of becoming the first Black female doctor in the
5United States; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler was born Rebecca Davis in Delaware
7on February 8, 1831; she was raised by an aunt in Pennsylvania
8who often cared for sick neighbors, influencing her decision
9to pursue a career in medicine; she proceeded to move to
10Massachusetts and became a nurse in the 1850s; and
 
11    WHEREAS, During a time when most medical schools barred
12Black students, Dr. Crumpler attended the New England Female
13Medical College (NEFMC), the first school in the U.S. to train
14women in the field of medicine; she graduated from NEFMC in
151864, thereby becoming the first Black female doctor in the
16U.S.; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler began practicing medicine in Boston
18before relocating to Richmond, Virginia towards the end of the
19American Civil War; she collaborated with the Freedmen's
20Bureau and other charity and missionary groups to care for
21freed African Americans, many of whom had never seen a doctor
22due to having been denied medical care by their former

 

 

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1enslavers or had suffered harrowing experiences by a racist
2medical system that treated them as less than human; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler continued to practice after
4returning to Boston in the late 1860s, where she treated
5patients in and around her home, regardless of their ability
6to pay; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler published A Book of Medical
8Discourses in 1883, chronicling her experiences as a doctor
9and featuring advice on treating illnesses in infants, young
10children, and women of childbearing age; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler married twice and had one child,
12Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler passed away in Boston on March 9,
141895; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler's life and work demonstrate her
16talent and determination to help others in the face of
17prejudice against her gender and race; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
19HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
20we recognize Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. on her legacy as the

 

 

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1first Black woman to earn a medical degree in the United States
2and her contributions to the field of medicine.