Honor The Life Of Henrietta Lacks With The Birmingham Public Library
Keep reading to learn a little bit more about her before the BPL's programs about her story on Monday and Tuesday, October 3 and 4, happening at the Central Library from 6:00—8:00 p.m.
Henrietta Lacks was born August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia. After her mother died in 1924, she moved to live with her grandfather in a log cabin that had been the slave quarters of a white ancestor's plantation. She met her first cousin and future husband David "Day" Lacks in that log cabin.
They married in 1941 after having two children. She worked as a tobacco farmer from a young age into adulthood until they moved to Maryland where they had three more children.
When she started experiencing abnormal pain and bleeding in her abdomen, Henrietta Lacks went to the the John Hopkins Hospital where she was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer in 1951.
Those cancerous cells on her cervix were biopsied without her knowledge and are known today as HeLa cells.
Henrietta Lacks died on October 4, 1951, at the age 31 at the John Hopkins Hospital due to her cancer. Her cells live on to this day, multiplying more times than they ever would have in her own body.
As her cells became famous in the medical world, her life was diminished to a singular photograph in most science textbooks. Smiling at the camera, Henrietta Lacks stands proudly in her neat dress suit with her hands on her hips. Often the captions credit the photo as "HeLa cells," "Helen Lane," or sometimes "Henrietta Lacks."
Everything about her life remains unknown to the students who study these textbooks, including her family.
Her family did not know that the cell cultures existed until more than 20 years after her death. The impact the HeLa cells had on the Lackses is explored more in Rebecca Skloot's book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
In an excerpt from her book, Skloot writes:
All of the stories mentioned that scientists had begun doing research on Henrietta's children, but the Lackses didn't seem to know what that research was for. They said they were being tested to see if they had the cancer that killed Henrietta, but according to the reporters, scientists were studying the Lacks family to learn more about Henrietta's cells.
Her story raises all sorts of ethical dilemmas that will be discussed at the Central Library.
While you can check out the book from the BPL, you can watch the movie starring Oprah Winfrey at the Central Library on Monday, October 3, 6:00—8:00 p.m., and then join us again on Tuesday, October 4 for an in-depth discussion.
On Tuesday, October 4, the anniversary of her death, UAB philosophy professor and bioethicist Dr. Gregory Pence will be at the Central Library from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. to speak about Henrietta Lacks' story and a Q&A session will follow. He will discuss how her story has become a political and ethical issue regarding medical consent, as well as race and bodily rights.
Join us for a thoughtful reflection and discussion as we honor Henrietta Lacks' life.
By Cheyenne Trujillo | Library Assistant Ⅲ, Public Relations
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