Page ix

“In August 2017…”

Hallman, J.C., “The Cry of Alice,” The Baffler, November 11, 2019.

“…a consortium of local community boards and activists…”

This group included, but was not limited to, East Harlem Preservation, Community Board 11, and Black Youth Project 100. Others made essential contributions, as well.

“…an image from the protest…”

The image was shared on the Black Youth Project 100 profile on Facebook on August 19, 2017.

“…‘Father of Gynecology.’”

Shortly after Sims died, his assistant in New York, Thomas Addis Emmet, described the publication of Sims’s Clinical Notes on Uterine Surgery as representing a sea change in the field, making Sims the “father” of “American gynaecology.” Sims is now routinely described as the “father of modern gynecology,” the “father of American gynecology,” or simply the “father of gynecology.” I have opted for this last, because while practices now identified as gynecological in nature surely existed before gynecology existed as a distinct field of medicine, the formal named field did not exist prior to the 1850s.

Dr. Paul F. Mundé titled his memorial piece accordingly, and the piece was delivered on the occasion of the 1894 dedication of Sims’s New York monument (located first in Bryant Park, later in Central Park).

“A Memoir of Dr. James Marion Sims,” Thomas Addis Emmet, New York Medical Journal, January 5, 1884, p. 4.

“Dr. J. Marion Sims—The Father of Modern Gynecology,” Medical Record, October 27, 1894, Vol. 48, p. 514.

“…250,000 times.”

See “In August 2017…,” above.

“…begun in 1846…”

Like most things in Sims’s history, there are varying dates for the first fistula experiment, and the exact length of the period of the experiments. Sims’s “Silver Sutures in Surgery” lecture and his autobiography, The Story of My Life, disagree on when the experiments began. I have opted for the former, as it was created closer to the date of the experiments, and is more precise. In addition, Sims’s posthumous autobiography was incomplete at the time of his death, and remained unedited for accuracy when it was published.

Sims, J. M., & New York Academy of Medicine. (1858). Silver sutures in surgery. New York: S.S. & W. Wood, p. 53.

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 239.

“…conducted without the use of anesthesia…”

Although Sims’s essay, “Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw. Resection of the Body of the Bone,” indicates that at the time of the fistula experiments Sims sometimes gave opium in advance of experimental operations, his autobiography indicates the fistula experiments came from “before the days of anesthetics.” His seminal article, “On the Treatment of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula,” describing the initial experiments, makes no mention of anesthesia. Late in life, Sims argued in the Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal that fistula surgery generally required anesthesia, but not always.

“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw. Resection of the Body of the Bone,” American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, 1846, p. 131.

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 237.

“On the Treatment of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula,” American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 23, 1852, pp. 59-82.

“Lecture on Vesico-Vaginal Fistula,” Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. XVIII, July 1875, No. 2, p. 57.

Hallman, J.C., “Monumental Error,” Harper’s Magazine, November 2017, p. 33.

“…approximately ten enslaved women…”

The exact number of women included in the early experiments varies widely from source to source—ranging from as few as three, to as many as fourteen or more (some sources appear to count women experimented on after 1849). Sims’s autobiography indicates that the number included Anarcha, Lucy, Betsey, and “six or seven” others. His silver sutures lecture suggests “seven or eight,” leaving it unclear as to whether this number includes Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey. I have chosen to leave the exact number imprecise.

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 236.

Sims, J. M., & New York Academy of Medicine. (1858). Silver sutures in surgery. New York: S.S. & W. Wood, p. 52

“…‘Negro Hospital’…”

Sims called his backyard clinic the “Alabama Negro Hospital” in a letter to Dr. Protheroe Smith, dated July 12, 1883.

“Abstract of an Introductory Address,” Dr. Protheroe Smith, British Gynaecological Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, April 1885, p. 201.

“…come to be known as Anarcha.”

See “…‘Anaka’ and ‘Anarcky,’” and “‘Anarcha’ itself is a specter…,” later in this introduction.

“Anarcha was the first woman…”

Sims’s autobiography puts the date of his meeting with Anarcha—the first fistula case he encountered—at June 1845.

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 226.

“…thirty experiments.”

Sims’s autobiography and his silver sutures lecture specify thirty experiments on Anarcha. An article from 1854 claims forty experiments on three women, and a remembrance from much later suggests only twenty experiments. I avoid specifying an exact number, but thirty is accepted by most sources.

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 245.

Sims, J. M., & New York Academy of Medicine. (1858). Silver sutures in surgery. New York: S.S. & W. Wood, p. 60.

“Lecture on Vesico-Vaginal Fistula,” Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. XVIII, July 1875, No. 2, p. 57.

“Two Cases of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula, Cured,” New York Medical Gazette and Journal of Health, Vol. 5, No. 1, January 1854, p. 1.

“…claimed to have cured her, in 1849…”

Sims’s “Silver Sutures in Surgery” lecture specifies that Anarcha’s “cure” was achieved on June 21, 1849, and his autobiography indicates that the cure came in May or June of 1849.

Sims, J. M., & New York Academy of Medicine. (1858). Silver sutures in surgery. New York: S.S. & W. Wood, p. 60.

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 246.

“…medical text after medical text…”

A selection from among numerous examples. Early accounts of Sims’s success either left out mentions of who Sims experimental subjects were, or indicated only that they were enslaved or “negro” women. By 1895, Sims’s most important subject was known as the “famous Anarcha.” (Note: John A. Wyeth, below, was Sims’s son-in-law, and was the father of Marion Sims Wyeth, who became an architect in Florida, and designed Mar-a-Lago, among many other Florida mansions.)

Speert, H. (1958). Obstetric and gynecologic milestones. New York: Macmillan, p. 482.

“The Influence of J. Marion Sims on Gynecology,” Claude E. Heaton, Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, Vol. 32, No. 9, September 1956, p. 686.

“J. Marion Sims: A Study of the Alabama Years and the Treatment of Vesico-Vaginal Fistulas,” Paul S. Howard, MASA Review, Spring/Summer 1997, p. 75.

Agnew, D. H., & Lamb, D. S. (1867). Vesico-vaginal fistula: Its history and treatment, p. 7.

“Dr. J. Marion Sims and His Work,” Dr. John A. Wyeth, Medical Record, Vol. 48, November 16, 1895, p. 697