Jon L. Christensen: “But before I even begin to talk about the women, I want to spend the first few moments to brag a little bit on behalf of…”

“But before I even begin to talk about the women, I want to spend the first few moments to brag a little bit on behalf of my constituents that, indeed, the first African American physician to serve in the U.S. Congress was also from the Virgin Islands, and that was Doctor, Governor, and Congressman Melvin H. Evans, who served from 1978 to 1980 before becoming ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago. Although women of African descent have been providing health care in our communities in this country from times of slavery, it was not until 1864 that Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first woman to be awarded a doctorate of medicine in the United States. She was a graduate of Female Medical College. Dr. Rebecca Cole was the first black woman to graduate from Women's Medical College and, by most accounts, the second black woman physician in the United States. She worked for a time with Elizabeth Blackwell, who was the first white female physician in this country. Dr. Cole was soon followed by Susan Smith McKinney Steward and Sarah Loguen Fraser. Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward graduated from New York Medical College in 1870 and was the first woman doctor of African descent in New York State and went on to be co-founder of the Women's Hospital and Infirmary in Brooklyn. Sarah Loguen Fraser, who in 1876 received her MD from Syracuse University College of Medicine, was also one of the early African American women in medicine in this country.”