Morgan State University and the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum have honored Henrietta Lacks with a wax figure dedicated to her lasting contributions to science.
Henrietta Lacks was the Black woman whose immortal cells revolutionized modern medicine.
The official unveiling took place on March 15 at 1 p.m. at Morgan State University’s Behavioral and Social Sciences Center.
The event was an opportunity for attendees to learn about Lacks’ groundbreaking impact on medical research, as well as the injustice of her cells being used without her consent.
Lacks, a former resident of Turner Station in Baltimore, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951 and treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Unbeknownst to her or her family, doctors harvested her cells, later named HeLa cells, which became the first immortal human cell line.
HeLa cells have played a pivotal role in scientific advancements, contributing to vaccines, cancer research, and biotechnology developments worldwide.
After the unveiling, Lacks’ wax figure will be permanently housed at the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, ensuring that her legacy is preserved and recognized for future generations.
The Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group (HLLG), which spearheaded efforts to fund the figure’s creation, expressed pride in the achievement.
“The Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group is dedicated to extending the legacy of Mrs. Lacks and that of historic Turner Station where she lived at the time of her death,” the organization stated in a press release. “With the help of the public, we raised the funds necessary to create a wax figure of Mrs. Lacks that will be housed in the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum.”
Lacks’s story has become a symbol of both resilience and medical ethics reform.
Her family has since fought for recognition and compensation for the unauthorized use of her cells, with recent legal settlements acknowledging the injustice she endured.
