Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (March 16, 1846- August 14, 1922) age 76 yrs

Rebecca J. Cole was the second African American woman to become a doctor in the United States. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first, three years earlier. Throughout her life, she faced racial and gender-based barriers to her medical education. She trained in all-female institutions run by the first generation of graduating female physicians. After earning her medical degree, Cole interned at Elizabeth Blackwell’s New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children. There, she was assigned to teach prenatal care and hygiene to women in tenements. Cole briefly practiced medicine in South Carolina before returning to Philadelphia. In 1873, she opened a Women’s Directory Center with Dr. Charlotte Abbey, which provided medical and legal services to disadvantaged women and children. In January 1899, Cole was appointed superintendent of a home. The home was run by the Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children in Washington, D.C. Cole practiced medicine for fifty years. In 2015, she was chosen as an Innovators Walk of Fame honoree by the University City Science Center, Philadelphia.