Source: iOne Creative Services Before she was a legend and icon, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was paving the way for generations of Black women in medicine as the first Black woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S. Born Rebecca Davis in Delaware in 1831, Crumpler was raised by an auntie in Pennsylvania who helped care for sick neighbors. Those early experiences inspired her to relieve the suffering of others and eventually move to Massachusetts where she thrived as a nurse.