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“…Anarcha became the story’s heroine.”
This wouldn’t fully become the case until the publication of Sims’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, in which Anarcha was singled out for an ability to endure surgeries—likely rooted in the common belief of the time that Black women felt less pain than white women (Sims never explicitly stated this, though, as noted above, his biographer did—see “‘…brought them physical pain…,’” above). It was in the autobiography, as well, that it was made clear that she had a far more catastrophic fistula than the others. Last, it was here too that the number of surgeries Anarcha endured settled on thirty (see “…thirty experiments,” above).
“Sims knew only fragments…”
See “They gave her chloroform…” and “…to write a letter to Dr. Sims,” above.
Anarcha’s Woman’s Hospital case record indicates that Charles Bell Gibson of Richmond was experimenting on her. Sims does not explicitly state that he received a letter from Gibson, but he must have, as the case record indicates details of Anarcha’s condition in Richmond. The case record is held at the Arthur H. Aufses, Jr. Medical Archives and Mount Sinai Records office at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York.
“Anarcha’s uterus was prolapsing…”
Anarcha’s case record is held at the Arthur H. Aufses, Jr. Medical Archives and Mount Sinai Records office at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York.
“Charles Pope heaped praise on Sims…”
See “There was Dr. Pope…,” above.
“Case of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula—Cure,” Charles A. Pope, St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 12, 1854, p. 403.
“…only for simple fistulae.”
“Case of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula—Cure,” Charles A. Pope, St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 12, 1854, p. 403.
“…a botched Sims procedure…”
“Case of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula—Cure,” Charles A. Pope, St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 12, 1854, p. 403.
“…New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal…”
“Case of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula—Cured,” Nathan Bozeman, The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 10, 1854, pp. 784, 782.
“…old teacher, J.F.G. Mittag…”
See “…a prolific portraitist,” above.
This is from an unpublished profile of Mittag, written by Louise Pettus, held at the archives of the Lancaster County Historical Society in Lancaster, South Carolina, p. 3.
