Enslaved Infants

"I can do the child no good: Dr Sims and the Enslaved Infants of Montgomery, Alabama" by Stephen C. Kenny

Research Question: has the history of medical science been built on the foundation of unethical medical research/ experimentation on African Americans? 

Summary: this article examines the influence of slavery and race on medical education, practice and research in the American South. The article sheds light on James Marion Sims surgical treatment  of enslaved infants suffering from trismus nascentium. Sims became a prestigious figure, but the foundation of his success relied on the use of slave bodies and enslaved patients. "These were distinctive features of the life of an ambitious medical professional in the slave south, where the profession profited from the institution of slavery, and human experimentation and medical research were advanced specifically through the exploitation of the  regions enslaved population" ( pg 1). This article was based solely on the condition now known as neonatal tetanus. The symptoms appear from three to ten days after birth and include trismus-- a spasm of the jaw muscles or lock jaw-- clenched fists, excessive flexion of the toes, strifled cry, and inability to suck. Sims would take the infants and puncture their skulls in order to alleviate the spasms, only to kill the infant. But according the Sims it was not his fault they died, it was the fact that they were Black and inferior. This did not happen once, it happened on many occasions all resulting in the same outcome. But the only thing that benefited from this painful and dreadful experience was Sims career.

After reading multiple articles Sims name appears multiple times. But most of the time it is in regards to the medical experimentation he did on those Black women with the vesico-vaginal fistula. But to find another article that shed light on another medical experiment he participated in but this time with infants this has to be deemed unethical. These were infants a few days old that had no say in whether they would wanted their heads bashed in or not. The mothers of these infants never even had a say. This man may be the Father of Gynecology, but the foundation for which his career has been built on is despicable.

Kenny, Stephen C. "I can do no Child no good: Dr. Sims and the Enslaved Infants of Montgomery, Alabama." Social History of Medicine 20.2 (2007): 223-241. Print. 

Doctors in South Carolina

"Enslaved Africans and Doctors in South Carolina" by Martia Graham Goodson

Research Question: has the history of medical science been built on the foundation of unethical medical research/experimentation on African Americans? 

Summary: for centuries Blacks have been used for medical research and experiments in order to drive white physicians career. In the South the ratio provided abundant opportunities for white physicians to become familiar with African bodies, and use those bodies in exploring the worlds 19th century medicine. The article goes about mentioning multiple doctors during this time that used African bodies to advance in medicine. Those mentioned were Francis Peyre Porcher, Julian John Chisolm and once again James Marion Sims. In medical history these men have been viewed as respective men because they are known for opening and starting medical associations and hospitals. But do we know how they got there? For these South Carolina physicians, the use and misuse of the bodies of enslaved African men, women, and children was common and socially and professionally acceptable. The author then goes to emphasize that it was Black bodies that many 19th century white American medical careers were built. The enslaved African women were distinguished contributors to the 19th century American medicine. Not only did they assist in Sims experimental surgery when others would not, but their own ill, malnourished, injured, and enslaved bodies were offered up to the advancement of science. Within this article I was able to find other things to look up in order to find other sources.

This source has surprised me because each book and article I read is a like another key each time unlocking something I had no idea was there. Making me lean more towards the fact that maybe medical science had been built off the backs of Blacks. Those who try to argue that it is not built off the backs of Blacks  do not seem to have valid reasoning besides the fact that the period was different. But the question still remains, just because the time frame was different and the rights of individuals varied does it give those the right to mutilate the bodies of Blacks?

Goodson, Martia G. "Enslaved Africans and Doctors in South Carolina." Journal of the National Medical Association 95.3 ( 2003): 225-233. Print. 

Gynaecology

"The Medical ethics of the 'Father of Gynaecology', Dr J Marion Sims" by Durrenda Ojanuga

Research Question: has the history of medical science been built on the foundation of unethical medical research/experimentation on African Americans?

Summary: Dr. Sims used female slaves as research subjects over a four-year period of experimentation. This paper discusses the controversy surrounding his use of powerless women and whether his actions were acceptable during that historical period. Vesico-Vaginal fistula (VVF) results in a tear from the bladder to the vagina, caused by obstructed labor. In the Antebellum South, slave-women , due to poor nutrition, lack of prenatal care, and births at an early age were at risk of VVF. Dr. Sims used slave women to develop his successful fistula operation in 1849. He has been credited with developing the medical specialty of gynaecology and is considered the father of gynaecology. Dr. Sims serves as a classic example of the evils of slavery and the misuse of human subjects for medical research. Kaiser defended Dr. Sims abuse of enslaved African-American women on the grounds that he was a man of his time and should not be judged by present-day standards. The author then goes to pinpoint particular cases during the same time period in which these physicians made leaps and bound in medicine without using human subjects. Sims manipulated the social institution of slavery to perform human experimentation, which by an standard is unacceptable. Article allowed two different perspectives based on ethics. What is considered ethical and unethical?

This article has to be one of the many articles I have read that has swayed my judgment of the topic. To believe that the man who many are inspired by and many look up too used women to advance his career unethically. He knew what he was doing because in his Biography he assumed that Black women are like cattle and can stand the pain without medications unlike white women who are fragile and delicate.

Ojanuga, Durrenda. "The Medical ethics of the 'Father of Gynaecology', Dr J Marion Sims." Journal of Medical Ethics 19 (1993): 28-31. Print.

Two Views of a Gentleman

"Doctor Thomas Hamilton: Two Views of a Gentleman of the Old South" by F. N. Boney

Research Question: Has the history of medical science been built on the foundation of unethical medical research/experimentation on African Americans?

Summary: In the late 1800's there was a doctor by the name of Thomas Hamiltion who used his medical career to find a cure for sunstroke. This article gives two different perspectives of the man behind the story, giving the reader the chance to figure out which man they believed he was. In the beginning of the article the author portrays Hamilton as a southern gentleman. A man of means and a man who took advantage of those means and expanded on his education becoming a doctor. Starting a family and being just like every other white man in the south, having land and hiring slaves to cultivate the lands. Towards the end, the author gives a different perspective of Hamilton as the man who used a slave named Fed to experiment on. The Article gives a full account of Fed's encounter he wrote when he finally escaped from the clutches of Hamilton. But because Fed was a slave his story can be deemed invalid.  A slaves word against a well known White Southern physician. The article gives you a double image of Dr. Thomas Hamilton, healer and wounder, gentleman and parasite.

I found this Article using the other article titled " The Use of Blacks for Medical Experimentation and Demonstration in the Old South" which listed many physicians and events to help its argument. I used those physicians and events to find other articles which I will be writing about in future posts.

Boney, F. N. "Doctor Thomas Hamilton: Two Views of a Gentleman of the Old South." Phylon 28.3 (1967): 288-292. Print.  

Medical Experimentation and Demostration

"The Use of Blacks for Medical Experimentation and Demonstration in the Old South" by Todd L. Savitt

Research Question: Has the history of medical science been built on the foundation of unethical medical research/experimentation on African Americans?

Summary: This article went through many cases involving the experimentation of Blacks in the South. Black bodies often found their way to dissecting tables, operating amphitheaters, classroom to bedside demonstrations, and experimental facilities. One event mentioned involved Dr. Thomas Hamilton, who borrowed a slave named Fed in order to test some of his medications on a human subject. He had a hole dug in the ground which he then had heated with fire to a high temperature. He had Fed sit naked on a stool in a platform placed with this oven like pit with only his head above the ground. To retain the heat Hamilton fastened wet blankets over the hole. Fed took different medications each time he entered the pit, so that Hamilton could determine which preparation best enabled the slave to withstand high temperatures. Another event involved Dr. James Marion Sims, who used slave women to find a cure for vesico-vaginal fistula. Vesico-vaginal fistula is a break in the wall separating the bladder from the vagina, which allows urine to pass involuntary to the outside from the vagina rather than from the urethra. Women suffering from the defect, usually the result of trauma during childbirth. This defect was mostly seen in African American women after childbirth because of the lack of food and shelter their bodies were not able to fully develop before they carried a child. Sims went about finding a way to surgically treat the fistula and in order to do this he used Black women to be his rats. He did surgery on them for weeks multiple times a day without anesthesia until he finally mastered the surgery. These events and many more mentioned within the article allowed me to have other topics to research in order to build upon my research question.

I found this article through Google chrome linked to the Auraria Library. I used the keywords experimentation, Black slaves which lead me to many other articles I thought I would never find. This article led to approx. 7 more articles regarding my research.


Savitt, Todd L. "The Use of Blacks for Medical Experimentation and Demonstration in the Old South." The Journal of Southern History 48.3 (1982). 331-348. Print.

Racism And Research

"Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study" by Allan M. Brandt

Research Question: Has the history of medical science been built on the foundation of unethical medical research/ experimentation on African Americans?

Summary: This article broke down every detail within the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Answering all the whys and at the same time making you question other aspects of the study in order to grasp the concept that what happened was unethical. Allan Brandt gave the argument of whether the study was ethical or unethical a different perspective. Brandt stated, " ... freedom had caused the mental, moral, and physical deterioration of the black populations," (pg. 2). Clinicians argued that the venereal disease threatened the future of the race. Most of the African Americans who were infected with Syphilis were going untreated to begin with so clinicians saw nothing wrong with withholding treatment if in the beginning they had no intention of being treated. All of this was padding their argument that the conducted study was ethical by all means. When people think of the Syphilis Study they think of the infamous study of 1932, but not many people know that a study was conducted earlier named the Olso Study of Untreated Syphilis between 1890 and 1910. the study withheld treatment from almost two thousand patients infected with syphilis. Olso had shown that untreated syphilis could lead to cardiovascular disease, insanity and premature death. Although the Olso study was called "a never to be repeated human experiment" by many physicians who worked within the Olso case, these same physicians served as expert consultants to the Tuskegee Study. This Article just gave a different perspective to the Tuskegee Study beyond what people think happened.

I found this article using Academic Premier. It took a while to find it. I had to find the best combination of databases to find the right articles, which came to the science and history databases combined.

Brandt, Allan M. "Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study." The Hasting Report Center 8.6 (1978): 21-29. Print.

Why African Americans?

"Why African American May Not be Participating in Clinical Trials" by Yvonne Harris et al. 

Research Question: Has the history of medical science been built on the foundation of unethical medical research/ experimentation on African American? 

Summary: this article was based off the results of a study done in order to take a look at why African Americans are not participating in clinical trials. But what I found within the article was the historical review which points out what has made African Americans this way. The article states, "Past medical experimentation and other practices on blacks were often brutal and unethical." Blacks filled the hospital beds to help doctors practice and perfect their craft. This is what people say when they want to justify what happened to Blacks. Many cases were mentioned in the article such as a case in Alabama of a women who had vesicovaginal fistula and was surgically practiced on without an anesthetic or consent or the slave that was kept in a pit that was heated in order to test the remedies for heatstroke. 

     But once again the one case that continues to pop up is the Tuskegee syphilis study which I want to explore, but I also want to shed light on those cases that are not as infamous as the ones I mentioned earlier.

I found this article using Google Scholar linked to Auraria Library. It is hard to find articles based on unethical medical research, so keywords are extremely important when trying to find articles. I used the key terms African Americans and research in order to find this article based on the history of African Americans.

Harris, Yvonne., Gorelick, Philip B., Samuels, Patricia., and Bempong, Isaac. “Why African Americans May Not Be Participating In Clinical Trials." Journal of the National Medical Association. 88 (2000): 630-634. Print