Full Text of HR0517 103rd General Assembly
HR0517 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | HR0517 | | LRB103 35288 ECR 65321 r |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION | 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to recognize Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. | 4 | | on her legacy of becoming the first Black female doctor in the | 5 | | United States; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler was born Rebecca Davis in Delaware | 7 | | on February 8, 1831; she was raised by an aunt in Pennsylvania | 8 | | who often cared for sick neighbors, influencing her decision | 9 | | to pursue a career in medicine; she proceeded to move to | 10 | | Massachusetts and became a nurse in the 1850s; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, During a time when most medical schools barred | 12 | | Black students, Dr. Crumpler attended the New England Female | 13 | | Medical College (NEFMC), the first school in the U.S. to train | 14 | | women in the field of medicine; she graduated from NEFMC in | 15 | | 1864, thereby becoming the first Black female doctor in the | 16 | | U.S.; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler began practicing medicine in Boston | 18 | | before relocating to Richmond, Virginia towards the end of the | 19 | | American Civil War; she collaborated with the Freedmen's | 20 | | Bureau and other charity and missionary groups to care for | 21 | | freed African Americans, many of whom had never seen a doctor | 22 | | due to having been denied medical care by their former |
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| 1 | | enslavers or had suffered harrowing experiences by a racist | 2 | | medical system that treated them as less than human; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler continued to practice after | 4 | | returning to Boston in the late 1860s, where she treated | 5 | | patients in and around her home, regardless of their ability | 6 | | to pay; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler published A Book of Medical | 8 | | Discourses in 1883, chronicling her experiences as a doctor | 9 | | and featuring advice on treating illnesses in infants, young | 10 | | children, and women of childbearing age; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler married twice and had one child, | 12 | | Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler passed away in Boston on March 9, | 14 | | 1895; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Crumpler's life and work demonstrate her | 16 | | talent and determination to help others in the face of | 17 | | prejudice against her gender and race; therefore, be it | 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 19 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 20 | | we recognize Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. on her legacy as the |
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| 1 | | first Black woman to earn a medical degree in the United States | 2 | | and her contributions to the field of medicine. |
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