Enlighten Me: Celebrating Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African-American woman physician

Delaware Public Media

Many passersby unknowingly walked over the hallowed grass serving as the final resting place for Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler in Boston’s Fairview Cemetery.

That changed in 2020, when the unmarked grave of Dr. Crumpler – who was born in 1831 in Christina, Delaware and would go on to become the nation’s first Black female physician – finally received a headstone.

It’s representative of the attention and notoriety that Dr. Crumpler has received throughout time – little to none at all. Only in recent years are her contributions to the medical community and history alike being celebrated.

This week, ChristianaCare Dr. Marshala Lee and Wilmington City Council member and founder of the Black Mothers in Power, Shané Darby, join us to examine Dr. Crumpler’s legacy, health care disparities in the state, and more.