Mothers of Gynecology Movement facts for kids
The Mothers of Gynecology Movement is a group that formed to speak out against how a doctor named J. Marion Sims treated enslaved Black women in the 1800s. He performed many surgeries on them. These women could not say "no" to the surgeries. They often had these operations without medicine to stop the pain. Many people today see his work as an example of unfair treatment in medicine because of race.
Even though Dr. Sims treated many people, we only know the names of three of his patients: Anarcha Westcott, Lucy, and Betsey. These three women are now called the "mothers of gynecology" in the United States. This name shows how important their experiences were to modern medicine.
Recognizing History: The Sims Statue
In 2017, the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, started a group to look at a statue of J. Marion Sims in Central Park. During this time, an essay by J.C. Hallman called "Monumental Error" was published. This essay was about the Sims statue.
The essay came out when the city was holding public meetings about statues all over New York City. Hallman's article added to a bigger discussion happening across the country about statues, especially those linked to the Confederacy. The group looking at the Sims statue read the article. They all voted to remove the statue, and it was taken down in April 2018.
Honoring the Mothers of Gynecology
In March 2021, an artist named Michelle Browder started a project to honor the "Mothers of Gynecology." She is an activist who works to bring attention to unfair treatment of the Black community. She held an event in Los Angeles where people brought old metal objects. These objects were melted down to create a new statue.
Dr. Sims wrote in his own medical notes that Anarcha was 17 years old and pregnant when he did the first of 30 surgeries on her. Lucy needed three months to get better after one of his surgeries. Michelle Browder told a newspaper, "If you've ever had a Pap smear, you have Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey to thank."
The new Mothers of Gynecology Monument was put up in Montgomery, Alabama, on September 24, 2021. Browder explained that the "discarded objects represent how Black women have been treated in this country." She also said, "But it also represents the beauty that's in the broken and the discarded."
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