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After the Civil War ended in 1865—realizing that there would be many newly freed slaves requiringmedical care— Crumpler moved to the South. She wrote, “After the close of the Confederate War, my mind centered on Richmond, the capital city of Virginia, as the proper field for real mis- sionary work, and one that would present ample oppor- tunities to become acquainted with the diseases of women and children.” Her prediction proved correct. As she wrote, “During my stay there nearly every hour was improved in that sphere of labor. The last quarter of the year 1866, I was en- abled … to have access each day to a very large number of

the indigent, and others of dif- ferent classes, in a population of over 30,000 colored.” Crumpler worked in Rich- mond for the Bureau of Ref- ugees, Freedmen, and Aban- doned Lands (more generally known as the Freedmen’s Bu- reau), a U.S. government agen- cy established in 1865 to aid freed slaves during the Recon- struction Era and to change at- titudes in the former Confedera- cy. Those attitudes were slow to change, however. Crumpler fre- quently found herself the target

Surgeons and doctors learned a great deal about injuries and trauma during the Civil War.

Rebecca Davis (Lee) Crumpler

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