Alabama Statues Honor Slaves Subject to Experimental Surgery

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A new monument in Montgomery pays tribute to three enslaved Black women who were subjected to experimental surgery by a 19th-century physician celebrated for advancing women’s health. Al.com reports that the statues of Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey were unveiled Friday. They were three of numerous Black women Dr. J. Marion Sims operated on while in Montgomery. Sims is held up as a pioneer in the field of gynecology, credited with developing new medical devices and a surgical technique to treat a complication of childbirth. But he also conducted experimental surgery without anesthesia on enslaved African-American women.

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