Anarcha (sometimes called Anarcha Westcott) was an enslaved teenager in Alabama in the 1840s. She became the subject of medical experiments that were the foundations of modern gynecology. Her story is not only about endurance, but also an important example of how progress can be built upon exploitation. 

She lived on the Westcott plantation near Montgomery, Alabama, where she worked as an enslaved laborer. Her name, “Westcott,” likely came from her enslaver rather than her own choosing, a reminder of how even one’s name could be taken under slavery. At 17 years old, after a long and painful childbirth, she developed vesicovaginal and rectovaginal fistulas (tears that caused her to lose control of her bladder and bowels). Such injuries were common among enslaved women, who were often forced into early pregnancies and denied proper medical care.

In 1844, Anarcha, alongside 2 other women, Lucy and Betsey, was taken by her enslaver to Dr. J. Marion Sims. Sims had recently discovered a new way to position surgical patients. He believed he might be able to cure Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy within six months. He made arrangements with their enslavers to lease the women for the duration of their treatment, so he had complete control over their bodies. It is unlikely that Anarcha, Betsy, or Lucy ever had the opportunity to consent to the experimentation they were about to endure. 

In the years 1844-1849, Sims conducted around 30 experimental surgeries on Anarcha, along with several other enslaved women, including Lucy and Betsey. These procedures were performed without anesthesia, which had just begun to be used in medical practice. Sims, as a physician, could have chosen to use anesthesia, but he intentionally chose not to for his experiments on enslaved Black women like Anarcha. 

Sims justified this by claiming that black women did not feel pain in the same way white women did, a racist and dehumanizing belief that allowed him to experiment freely. Anarcha endured excruciating pain and repeated failures before Sims performed her final surgery. This time, Anarcha’s injury finally healed, and she made a full recovery. Shortly after perfecting his technique, Sims closed his hospital and moved north. Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy all returned to their enslavers after five years of absence and experimentation.

In 1852, Sims published an article that outlined his new procedure. To appeal to a wider audience, he never mentioned that the women he operated on were enslaved or that he had total control over their bodies. In the illustrations that accompanied his article, he is shown operating on white women with the help of a white nurse. The patient is also covered, a token of respect that Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy never received. Sims’s work and article revolutionized surgical treatments for women and earned him the nickname “the father of modern gynecology.”

Recent research by author J. C. Hallman, however, has brought new light to her story. Hallman’s 2023 book, Say Anarcha, uncovers evidence that she lived beyond her time with Sims, likely taking the name Anarcha Jackson, and died in 1869 in Virginia.

In 2021, artist Michelle Browder unveiled the Mothers of Gynecology Monument in Montgomery, Alabama. The sculpture honors Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey, three women whose bodies and bravery shaped women’s healthcare. Their story isn't just medical history, it's a lesson in consent, race, and ethics that still echoes in modern healthcare today.  

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