Object of the month
Lucy, Anarcha, and Betsy were three Black women enslaved in the 19th century whose bodies were used as
experimental subjects by Dr. J. Marion Sims, long presented as the “father of gynecology.” Without their consent
and without anesthesia, they endured dozens of experimental surgeries intended to treat obstetric fistulas. These
experiments notably contributed to the development of instruments such as the speculum and to major advances in
gynecological surgery. While Sims gained fame and recognition from these medical breakthroughs, Lucy, Anarcha,
and Betsy remained anonymized, their suffering rendered invisible by racism and slavery. Today, they are recognized
as the true mothers of modern gynecology: not by choice, but because their pain and resistance formed the
foundation of medical knowledge built without justice. Their story reminds us that science is never neutral and that
every advance must be examined in the light of ethics and memory.
Lucy, Anarcha, and Betsy were three Black women enslaved in the 19th century whose bodies were used as
experimental subjects by Dr. J. Marion Sims, long presented as the “father of gynecology.” Without their consent
and without anesthesia, they endured dozens of experimental surgeries intended to treat obstetric fistulas. These
experiments notably contributed to the development of instruments such as the speculum and to major advances in
gynecological surgery. While Sims gained fame and recognition from these medical breakthroughs, Lucy, Anarcha,
and Betsy remained anonymized, their suffering rendered invisible by racism and slavery. Today, they are recognized
as the true mothers of modern gynecology: not by choice, but because their pain and resistance formed the
foundation of medical knowledge built without justice. Their story reminds us that science is never neutral and that
every advance must be examined in the light of ethics and memory.
