Her name was Anarcha Westcott. You won’t find her in history books, but her suffering shaped modern medicine. Anarcha was just 17 years old; she was enslaved and had just given birth. The birth left her body torn and wounded. She was in agony, bleeding, and in desperate need of care. Instead of receiving care, Anarcha was taken to a doctor, not to help her but to use her. His name was Dr. J. Marion Sims. Today, some call him the father of modern gynecology. He didn’t see Anarcha as a girl or as a human being. He saw her as an experiment. He performed over 30 surgeries on her without anesthesia, without her consent, and without mercy. She screamed through every cut. Her body was opened again and again. Her pain was ignored because she was a slave. Her body became the foundation for tools, techniques, and procedures used in gynecology to this day. He became famous. Hospitals were named after him. Statues were built in his honor. But Anarcha? She was forgotten. No recognition. No statue. Not even justice. Her name deserves to be known. Her voice deserves to be heard. This is her story, and we’re finally telling it.
