J. Marion Sims Conducted Surgical Experiments on Enslaved Women

Between 1845 and 1849, physician J. Marion Sims repeatedly operated on at least 11 enslaved Black women — including Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy — without anesthesia while developing a surgical repair for vesico-vaginal fistula. Sims operated on Anarcha alone at least 30 times. He justified withholding pain relief by claiming Black people felt less pain — a racist medical myth that persisted for generations. He was later celebrated as the "father of modern gynecology."