Honoring the enslaved African American foremothers of modern women's health: Meditations on 40 years of Black feminist praxis

Abstract

This article analyzes 40 years of Black feminist scholarship, art, and grassroots activism dedicated to the lives and legacies of the "foremothers of American gynecology." Infamously, in Montgomery, Alabama, between 1845 and 1849, up to 16 enslaved women were exploited at a backyard hospital, some subjected to surgical experimentation by Dr James Marion Sims. He was a famous and world-renowned surgeon who died in 1883, with a reputation as "the father of modern gynecology." Sims achieved the medical knowledge that catapulted him into American and European fame, using skills gained from the exploitation of the enslaved women in his early career. Famously, three of these women are referenced by their first names: Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey. This research asks: how have these important figures been remembered in 20th and 21st-century Black feminist scholarship, art, and grassroots community activism? Further, what are the broader impacts of this pathbreaking truth, reckoning, and reconciliation work?

Keywords: Anarcha, Lucy, Betsey (and the unnamed others); Black Feminism; Cultural Memory & Healing Justice; Foremothers of American Gynecology; Gender & U.S. Slavery; Historical Anthropology.