Cole, Rebecca J. (1846–1922)
Cole, Rebecca J. (1846–1922)
African-American physician. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 16, 1846; died in Philadelphia on August 14, 1922; graduated from the Institute for Colored Youth, Philadelphia, 1863; graduated from the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (now The Medical College of Pennsylvania), 1867.
Enduring the double prejudice of race and gender, Rebecca Cole was the first black woman to graduate from the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. She then became resident physician at the New York Infirmary for Women and Children (established in 1857 by Elizabeth Blackwell ), where she worked with the poor, dispensing practical information on infant and family health. She later practiced in Columbia, South Carolina, and was a superintendent of the Government House for Children and Old Women in Washington, D.C. Cole eventually returned to Philadelphia where she established a practice and served as superintendent of a homeless shelter. With another physician, Charlotte Abby , she conducted a Woman's Directory that gave legal and medical aid. Rebecca Cole died in 1922, after 50 years in medicine.