Portrait of Walter Gray Crump, M.D., D.Sci.(h.c.), currently on display
Dr. Walter Gray Crump, M.D. (1869-1945), was a notable figure in the history of the New York Medical College as an educator and as a benefactor of students. He is rarely written of without including mention of his work as a physician and as an advocate for the professional and economic advancement of minority groups.
Portraits of Dr. Walter Gray Crump are on display in the Alumni House Reception Room, the Willner Family Atrium of the Medical Education Center, the ground floor atrium of the Skyline Drive Facility, and the first floor hallway of Sunshine Cottage.
Birth: August 6th, 1869, Pittsford, New York
Death: May 1st, 1945, New York, New York
Education:
At New York Medical College:
Dr. Walter Gray Crump, M.D. (1869-1945), was a professor, surgeon, attending physician, and scholarship founder at the New York Medical College. He was a fellow and the governor of the American College of Surgeons, a surgeon for multiple clinics and hospitals, and a renowned advocate for minority groups.
Born in Pittsford, New York, in 1869, Walter Gray Crump began his journey to becoming a physician by attending the New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1892. He had recently graduated from Princeton University with a degree in biology. He left the New York Homeopathic Medical College, having earned his M.D., only three years after being admitted. About two years later, in 1897, he returned to the college as a professor of surgery.
As a respected surgeon and gynecologist, Dr. Crump taught at the New York Homeopathic Medical College from 1897 to 1936. He taught surgery while also working as a consulting professor at a number of other institutions. Dr. Crump was also an attending physician and staff surgeon for several different hospitals throughout his time, including the Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital associated with the New York Medical College. In 1899, Dr. Crump further contributed to his Alma Mater by taking on the role of Alumni Editor of the Chironian. After ending his role as professor of surgery in 1936, he became a Professor Emeritus of Surgery for the New York Medical College.
While he held many notable roles and performed useful services to a number of organizations, such as the founding of the Broad Street Hospital, some of his most respected work regarded the economic and educational advancement of minorities. Reflecting his personal investment in these goals, Dr. Crump was a trustee for both the Tuskegee Institute and Howard University. Some documents refer to his support of and involvement in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). One of his most influential accomplishments was the establishment of the Walter Gray Crump Scholarship.
The Walter Gray Crump Scholarship was a financial award for students of the New York Medical College with a racial minority status, often benefitting African American students. The award was designed to cover the costs of achieving a four year medical degree from the college and therefore improve the availability of medical education and the medical profession to all races. The first recipient of the Walter Gray Crump Scholarship was Myra Logan, M.D., in 1929. This scholarship continued to benefit a number of influential doctors including Jane Cooke Wright, M.D., Geraldine Burton Branch, M.D., and more.
Dr. Walter Gray Crump died on May 1st, 1945, at the Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital, the same facility where he had performed essential acts of medical care for many years.
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