What was life like in 1950s Baltimore for Henrietta and her family? I can’t speak to it personally. I wasn’t alive nor do I know anyone who experienced it. But I do think that in order to understand Henrietta’s story, I have to understand it in relation to time and place. Without it, the story loses any kind of meaning for me.
Many African Americans came left the south in what was called “the Great Migration.” Initially this happened from 1910 to 1930 but the second migration came from 1940-1970. Henrietta and her husband left Clover, Virginia, where they farmed tobacco and where their ancestors had been slaves.
Moving north meant taking advantage of work opportunities more available to African Americans due to WWII. Henrietta’s husband worked for Sparrows Point, the largest steel manufacturing plant in the world at that time.
The work was not pretty: workers (primarily black men) were exposed to toxic coal dust and asbestos. But it was steady and afforded a middle class life to the growing Lacks family. We now know more about the health risks that existed at Sparrows Point and there have been recent efforts to clean up the area.
But while moving up north mean steady work and a better life for their children, life in Baltimore was not without segregation. While the Civil War ended slavery, it did not open up schools or public accommodations for African Americans.
The Second Morrill Act (1890) upheld that states needed to provide the same services to blacks as whites but they could be separate. “Equal” didn’t necessarily ring true. Plessy v. Ferguson upheld this. Take a look at this timeline of major events and legislation of civil rights.
What else happened around this time? What was the Baltimore of Henrietta Lacks?
In 1952, the Army Chief of Staff ordered worldwide integration of this service. Despite efforts to integrate the Armed Forces after WWII, the last segregated unit existed in 1954.
In 1964 the twenty-fourth amendment to the constitution was passed. Since the legal end to slavery, Blacks in America had been denied the right to vote by a number of different ways. Some measures were deceitful, many others were life threatening. This confirmation ensured the Abolition of the Poll Tax Qualification in Federal Elections.
The University of Maryland did not allow Black students until 1951. Prior to that time, the Princess Anne campus served as the “separate” school for African Americans.
Workplace racial discrimination was legal until Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in employment.
Did you know that Henrietta and her husband had to drive 20 miles to get to Johns Hopkins because JHU was the closest hospital that treated Blacks? Or that JHU began as a “charity” hospital as part of its mission?
Given life in Baltimore (and many other places in the US), what do you think healthcare was like for African Americans?
--- Dr. Lisa Kiely, Assistant Dean, University of Maryland
