Manhattan
By Geoffrey Croft
The statue of controversial gynecologist James Marion Sims was defaced in Central Park over the weekend.
The word "Racists" was spray painted in red paint on the face and on the back of the statue.
No cameras are located in the immediate area according to police who are investigating.
The vandalism was discovered on Saturday, 9 a.m.
Last week City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito held a press conference calling for the removal of the statue amid revelations for more than a decade that Sims performed experimental operations on enslaved women without getting their consent or giving them anesthesia.
The bronze and granite Sims monument was originally dedicated in 1894 in Bryant Park. It was moved to the perimeter of Central Park at East 103rd Street and 5th Avenue in 1934, across from the Academy of Medicine, of which Dr. Sims was a member.
The monument is among the statues that a city commission is reviewing for possible removal following the deadly white nationalist rally on August 12th in Charlottesville, Va.
That demonstration was organized to protest the removal of a statue of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Often referred to as the "father of modern gynecology," he founded the first hospital for women in America in New York City in 1855.
Hello, To give a more accurate portrayal of this figure, it might be wise to include that Sims conducted experiments on enslaved women and children whom he bought for the purpose of experimentation without protocol, oversight, or human ethics/decency provisions. He did not use anesthesia of any kind on surgeries performed on their genitalia. Many died protracted, excruciating deaths from infection. Sims said these black women "could not feel pain." He is much more than the "father of modern gynecology." Please amend your article.
ReplyDeleteI see your reference to his experiments. Thank you.
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