BALTIMORE — The Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group focuses on educating people about the medical contributions of the woman known as the "Mother of Modern Medicine", as well as the place she raised her children, Turner Station.
- Henrietta Lacks' cells, known HeLa cells, were collected from her in 1951 by researchers at Johns Hopkins, without her knowledge, during her treatment for cervical cancer. Those cells are still today used for a variety of medicines, most recently the COVID-19 vaccine.
- The Legacy Group focuses on education with school lectures, tours of Turner Station and an annual video/essay competition for students
- They are working to get a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal for Lacks as well as a commemorative stamp
Dr. Adele Newson-Horst, an English professor at Morgan State, remembers the day in 2011 when she was approached to start the Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group. It happened after a ceremony at Morgan where the school posthumously awarded Lacks with an honorary degree.
"One longtime resident of Turner Station, Servant Courtney Speed, was there and she looked at me and said you! And I said me?"
Dr. Newson-Horst didn't know Speed but says once she heard her idea to develop the group honoring Lacks, she was on board.
"Erasure is a big deal among Black women. Henrietta Lacks is not the first to be virtually erased from history but she’s one that we’ve taken on because of the proximity to historic Turner Station," she said.
Turner Station near Dundalk was home to Lacks, her husband and her five children. It's also the home of Servant Courtney Speed, who moved there in 1960. She said she didn't learn about Lacks until 1997, when the BBC came to town to do a story. A quick survey of her neighbors showed they didn't know about Lacks either.
"If the residents here don’t know about Henrietta Lacks, certainly others don’t," said Speed.
Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer in January of 1951. While being treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital, researchers collected her cells, without her knowledge. She died in October of 1951 but her cells, known as HeLa cells, live on. They've been used to develop a number of medicines and treatments, most recently the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Its important to recognize the people who did so much for us and she did so much for humanity," said Dr. Newson-Horst.
The Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group focuses on education and awareness by doing lectures at schools, giving tours of Turner Station and holding a yearly essay and video competition for students.
They also support projects bearing Lacks' name such as a community center in Turner Station, a highway in Dundalk and a building on the campus of Johns Hopkins University.
Earlier this year the group celebrated the unveiling of a wax figure of Lacks, which is now on display at the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore.
"For the family it’s a great honor, especially to have it in the museum here in Baltimore," said Shirley Lacks, the daughter-in-law of Henrietta and also a member of the Legacy Group.
She gives the group credit for the national and international recognition of the woman she never got the chance to meet.
"They don’t have to do that, but out of the kindness of their heart and the love they have for people and God, they say I’m going to work with this and make sure that Henrietta will never ever be forgotten."
The group is working with Maryland leaders in Washington D.C. to award Henrietta Lacks with the Congressional Gold Medal and get her portrait on a commemorative stamp.
