Documents from Tuskegee Syphilis Study now available to see online

FILE – In this 1950’s file photo released by the National Archives, a black man included in a syphilis study has blood drawn by a doctor in Tuskegee, Ala. (National Archives via AP, File)

You have a chance to learn more about a shameful part of national history that happened in Alabama — the syphilis study at Tuskegee.

A collection of documents from the study are now available for you to see through the National Library of Medicine.

The federal government conducted the study at Tuskegee from 1932 to 1972 to learn about untreated syphilis.

Researchers did not get consent from men who were infected with the disease, and those men were not offered treatment, even after it became available.

Legendary local  civil rights attorney Fred Gray filed a class-action suit on behalf of the men and their families, which brought a $9 million settlement.

Since then, major changes to standard research practices were made.

SEE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY DOCUMENTS