Remembering Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecology

Enlarge this image toggle caption Pearson Museum, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Pearson Museum, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

Hidden Brain Remembering Anarcha Episode 20: Remembering Anarcha Listen · 26:41 26:41

There are three statues in the United States honoring Dr. James Marion Sims, a 19th-century physician dubbed the father of modern gynecology. Invisible in his shadow are the enslaved women whom he experimented on. Today, they are unknown and unnamed except for three: Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey. This week, we talk with historian Vanessa Gamble and poet Bettina Judd as we grapple with the troubling history of medical experimentation on African Americans.

The Hidden Brain Podcast is hosted by Shankar Vedantam and produced by Kara McGuirk-Alison, Maggie Penman and Max Nesterak. To subscribe to our newsletter, click here. You can also follow us on Twitter @hiddenbrain, @karamcguirk,@maggiepenman and @maxnesterak, and listen for Hidden Brain stories every week on your local public radio station.

This story was updated to include the names of professors Vanessa Gamble and Bettina Judd, who are featured in this episode.