Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the 21st Century

The first complete history of Black women physicians in the US, told through a blend of extensive archival research and the author's own journey as a medical student

As a young Black woman considering a path in medicine, Jasmine Brown quickly realized there weren't many other Black women physicians to look to as role models--but not because Black women haven't served as doctors for hundreds of years. No complete history of Black women physicians in the United States exists, and what little mention is made to these women in existing histories is often insubstantial or altogether incorrect. In this work of extensive research, Jasmine Brown champions a new history, penning the long-erased stories of Black women physicians in permanent ink.

The legacy of African American women physicians began with Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, whose dreams of working as a physician led her to embark on that career path at a time when slavery was still legal. Only fourteen months after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler graduated from medical school and then promptly moved to Richmond, Virginia to provide medical care for the newly freed slaves who had be neglected and exploited by the medical system.

Jasmine Brown tells this and other stories from the perspective of a historian and a Black woman in medicine. As a medical student, her journey already has parallels to that of Black women who entered medicine generations before her. This work establishes a lineage of Black women doctors whose accomplishments are undeniably important and inspirational, shedding light on the Black women doctor role models that medical students like Jasmine grew up without.