1941: Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks (1920-1951) circa 1945-1950
Source: Wikimedia
Medical Exploitation
In 1941, David, Henrietta, and their four children moved from rural Virginia to Turner Station so David could work at Bethlehem Steel. After giving birth to their fifth child in 1951, Henrietta developed cervical cancer and sought treatment on August 8 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. As part of her treatment, but without her knowledge or consent, Henrietta’s doctor, Dr. Howard Jones, removed cells from her cervix and gave them to a cancer researcher.
These cells, now called “HeLa” cells, would later be instrumental in advancing biomedical research worldwide because they are “immortal,” that is “they will divide again and again and again” (Faussadier, 2017). HeLa cells “are some of the most extensively used cell lines in Biomedical research” (research on polio, cancer, HIV/AIDS), yet neither Henrietta nor her family benefited from their use (Faussadier, 2017). Henrietta Lacks died on October 4, 1951 never knowing that her cells had been removed and used for medical research (Skloot, 2011, p. 86).
Her story illustrates the experience of many blacks in Baltimore whose labor and services were exploited without appropriate pay, opportunity, or respect in return.