Rebecca Lee Crumpler , born Rebecca Davis, (February 8, 1831 – March 9, 1895), was an American physician, nurse and author. After studying at the  New England Female Medical College , in 1864 she became the first African American woman to become a doctor of medicine in the United States.Crumpler was also one of the first female physician authors in the nineteenth century.In 1883, she published  A Book of Medical Discourses . The book has two parts that cover the prevention and cure of infantile bowel complaints, and the life and growth of human beings. Dedicated to nurses and mothers, it focuses on  maternal  and  pediatric medical care  and was among the first publications written by an African American on the subject of medicine.