Page 83

“…bringing their slaves to town…”

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 209.

“…in April 1845.”

As Sims describes inventing a device to make the procedure he intends to perform, I am assuming an initial visit took place some time prior to the date of the experiment.

“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw—Resection of the Body of the Bone—Cure,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, 1846, pp. 128-29.

“…little better than a slave cabin…”

No photograph exists of Sims’s back yard clinic, though an image from a pamphlet originally published by Edmund Souchon—Sims’s friend in Paris, described later in the book—has been misidentified as Sims’s original hospital. Nevertheless, my description here is a combination of Robert Thom’s infamous painting of Sims, Souchon’s picture, and the hints included in Sims’s piece about Sam’s case.

Souchon, E. (1896). Places Rendered Famous by Dr. J. Marion Sims, In Montgomery, A. New Orleans Medical & Surgical Journal, p. 5.

“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw—Resection of the Body of the Bone—Cure,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, 1846, pp. 128-29.

“…a tender examination.”

Sims says little about Sam’s initial visit, though it seems clear there was one. Given what he says here, and how the second visit plays out, it’s safe to assume that Sims was not entirely forthright with Sam about what he intended to do.

“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw—Resection of the Body of the Bone—Cure,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, 1846, p. 129.

“…Sam’s lower jaw…”

“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw—Resection of the Body of the Bone—Cure,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, 1846, p. 128.

“…Sam’s reluctance to be cut…”

“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw—Resection of the Body of the Bone—Cure,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, 1846, p. 129.

“…had recently followed suit…”

Sims acknowledges that he is performing a surgery that others have also performed. The other case he describes, a slave willing to be cut, is described immediately hereafter.

“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw—Resection of the Body of the Bone—Cure,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, 1846, p. 131.

“…regardless of whether a patient was willing.”

Sims does not speak explicitly to his motives here, but it is hard to imagine any other motive for why he would be wanting to show that capital surgery could be performed without consent. In addition, this is one of Sims’s first publications (and he had a drawing made of Sam prior to the procedure—he knew that he intended to publish), and it is the first instance in which he contrives an appliance for a procedure and describes it in detail.

“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw—Resection of the Body of the Bone—Cure,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, 1846, p. 132.

“…Dr. Thomason, of Lowndes County…”

“Removal of the Superior Maxilla for a Tumour of the Antrum; Apparent Cure. Return of the Disease. Second Operation. Sequel,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 13, 1847, p. 310.

“Like many plantation owners…”

Holley, H. L., & Waters, A. L. (1982). The history of medicine in alabama. Birmingham: University of Alabama Press, p. 9.