J. Marion Sims “the father of modern gynecology” purchased Black women slaves and used them as guinea pigs for his untested surgical experiments.
He repeatedly performed genital surgery on Black women WITHOUT ANESTHESIA because according to him, "Black women don't feel pain.”
J. Marion Sims is called the "Father of Gynecology" due to his experiments on enslaved women in Alabama, who were often submitted as GUINEA PIGS by their plantation owners who could not use them for sexual pleasure.
Like many doctors in the 1800s, J. Marion Sims was very interested in medical advancement and experimentation. He practiced all kinds of medicine, from dentistry to pediatrics to general surgery.
In 1835, he moved from South Carolina to Alabama after two of his patients died. Eventually, he settled in Montgomery County, where he came to the attention of the men who enslaved Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey.
All three women had developed a painful medical condition after childbirth that caused them to lose control of their bladders and bowels. Enslaved women with this condition were kept apart from other workers. There was no cure.
They were told they would have to live with the pain and shame of their injuries for the rest of their lives.
Anarcha, one of the enslaved woman, was forced to regularly undergo surgical experiments while positioned on Sims' table, squatting on all fours and FULLY AWAKE without the comfort of ANY anesthesia.
Sims had no previous interest or training in treating female bodies, yet a coincidental discovery about positioning patients for surgery led him to believe that a cure was possible—and that this would be his opportunity to make his mark on the medical field.
While Sims claims to have obtained permission from at least one of these women—who, to be sure, desperately wanted to be healed of their condition—
the reality is that, as enslaved persons, these women were not legally entitled to refuse.
It's been calculated that Anarcha was operated on roughly 34 times between 1845 - 1849. These operations helped Dr. Sims hone his techniques and create his gynecological tools.