Black History 365 | # 226 The Dark History of Gynecology

Do you know how racist and unethical the origins of modern gynecology are? This history starts with who has been dubbed “the father of gynecology,” James “J” Marion Sims. He is responsible for repairing vesicovaginal fistula. It’s an opening that develops between the bladder and the wall of the vagina. The result is that urine leaks out of the vagina. This surgery he discovered has been preserved as a great accomplishment — a life improving procedure still used to this day. Too bad this came at the exploitation of black women. His procedures were similar if not worse than a veterinarian would perform surgery on an animal. To put this in perspective. Black people weren’t yet deemed human, but property (three-fifths human) via Federal law. These life threatening experiments caused excruciating pain, but all Sims needed was legal permission from the “property owners.” Some of his experiments were unsuccessful. A woman named “Lucy” for example, nearly died due to severe blood poisoning. He quartered these women in a small hospital behind his house in Montgomery, Alabama. Between late 1845 and the summer of 1849. He carried out repeated operations on these women. One teenager, a slave named Anarcha had to undergo either 13 to 30 operations (without anesthesia) before Sims got this particular procedure right. Once declared successful it was then deemed safe to perform on white patients. This history has ties to today’s disparities in maternal mortality rates for women according to race. In 2023 Black women had a mortality rate of 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births—more than three times the rate for White women (14.5), and significantly higher than Hispanic (12.4) and Asian (10.7) women. In addition, many white medical students and residents hold false beliefs about biological differences between black and white people contributing to systemic racial disparities in pain assessment and treatment. Black people are systematically under-treated for pain due to racist myths that black people feel less pain, have thicker skin, have less nerve endings, have smaller brains, are sub-human, or superhuman, you name it. This is all connected. The racist, unethical, and inhumane medical experiments of J. Marion Sims have been documented as the foundation for modern gynecological surgery and significantly advancing women's healthcare. Lordhavemercy.

Black History 365 | # 225 Rodney Hinton Jr.

This is Rodney Hinton Jr. Rodney Hinton Jr’s son Rodney Hinton III was fatally shot and killed by Cincinnati police officer Larry Henderson on the morning of May 1, 2025. Rodney III had just turned 18 having been born April 19, 2007. He would’ve graduated in a few weeks. Reportedly this was after a suspected stolen car chase…Rodney Hinton III was accused of having a handgun. He and four others ran when cops attempted to apprehend what they identified as four suspects. ”Clips and still images from officer body cameras show the people who were in the car scattered when police pulled in and trapped the suspected stolen vehicle with their cruisers.” No shots were fired from the handgun Rodney Hinton III was accused of having. But, four to five shots were fired from officer Larry Henderson, killing Rodney Hinton III. CPD spokesperson Lt. Jonathan Cunningham said no officers were hurt in the shooting. All three of the other teenagers they didn’t kill have been arrested. Court documents show both 19-year-old Deanthony Bullocks and 18-year-old Jurell Austin are charged with receiving stolen property and obstructing official business. In a release on Saturday, CPD said they detained 18-year-old Cynsere Grigsby for the same charges as Bullocks and Austin. A day after, on Martin Luther King Drive and Burnet Woods Drive near the University of Cincinnati's campus, where graduation commencements were being held Cincinnati police said a Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy was outside of his vehicle, directing traffic at the intersection when he was struck by a vehicle entering the intersection. The deputy was taken to UC Medical Center, where he died. Rodney Hinton Jr., is charged with aggravated murder, but neither police nor an attorney representing his family have disclosed any motivation behind his alleged targeting of the deputy. Questions also remain in the police shooting death of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton. The Cincinnati Police Department says he appeared to point a gun at an officer while fleeing Thursday, but the officer’s body camera footage does not clearly capture the moment. This story is still developing.

Black History 365 | # 224 Constance "Connie" Enola Morgan

This is Connie Morgan. She became the third woman in history to play in the Negro Leagues, behind Toni Stone and Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, who also played for the Clowns. Morgan quickly proved she could play at an elite level. In her two seasons with Indianapolis, Morgan was good enough to split time at second base with Ray Neiland, and she could turn the double play with the best of them. Morgan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 17, 1935. Her mother, Vivian Beverly, stayed at home with her five children while her father, Howard Morgan, worked as a window cleaner. She first attended Landreth Elementary School and graduated from John Bartram High School in Philadelphia in 1952 before enrolling in the William Penn Business School. Morgan stood at five feet four and weighed just one hundred and thirty-five pounds. She was called lightning fast when she had an opportunity to run the bases. She hit around .300, batting third in the lineup, and played in a total of forty-nine games. In addition to playing baseball, Morgan also played basketball for a well-known city wide team, The Rockettes at the Christian Street YMCA in South Philadelphia. She was mentioned several times in her hometown newspaper, The Philadelphia Tribune,as well as other African American and white newspapers where she often received special attention during her single year in the Negro Leagues. After just one season with the Indianapolis Clowns, Morgan retired from professional baseball and returned to her classes at William Penn Business School, graduating in late 1955. Soon afterward, she was hired as a typist at Moss and Demany Furriers in the city. She later worked for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest federation of unions in the United States until she retired in 1974. Morgan was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. She passed on October 14, 1993, in her hometown, Philadelphia, just three days before her fifty-eighth birthday. Much respect to her legacy.

Black History 365 | # 223 Mamie "Peanut" Johnson

This is Mamie “Peanut” Johnson. She was the first woman to pitch in the Negro Leagues, and was a two-way player. Her career came at the tail end of the Negro Leagues beginning after the Negro National League had already disbanded. She pitched for the Indianapolis Clowns from 1953-55. She had initially attempted to try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, but was barred due to race. Johnson was one of just three women to play in the Negro Leagues, but she was the only one who pitched. She’s believed to have compiled a 33-8 record on the mound in her three seasons pitching for the Clowns. She hit, too – the reports vary, but all place her within the range of .260 to .285 for her career batting average. Johnson stopped playing after the 1955 season, becoming a nurse, the occupation that she’d have for the rest of her working career. Living in Washington, D.C., she rooted for the Nationals later in life and was selected by the club in a 2008 draft, when living Negro Leagues players were drafted to current Major League teams. She passed away in 2017. Respect to her legacy!

Black History 365 | # 222 Toni Stone

This is Toni Stone. Marcenia Lyle “Toni” Stone was the first woman to play professional baseball regularly in a major men's professional baseball league. And while in the Negro American League, she replaced none other than Hank Aaron. She was a phenomenal athlete from her youth, and though she played football, basketball, golf, hockey and tennis, among other sports while growing up, baseball was the one that did it. At 16 years old, she joined the semi-pro Twin Cities Colored Giants club, which had been an all-male team. Stone began her professional career with the San Francisco Sea Lions of the West Coast Negro Baseball League in 1946. By 1949, she had moved east and began playing for the New Orleans Black Pelicans and the New Orleans Creoles of the Negro Southern League. Stone also reportedly got a hit off one the greatest pitchers in history, Satchel Paige. Sheesh! Stone retired from professional baseball following the 1954 season, one she spent with the Kansas City Monarchs after having her contract sold by Indianapolis following the ’53 campaign. In 1990, she was included in the “Women in Baseball” and “Negro League Baseball” exhibits at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Three years later, she was inducted into the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. In 1990, in her hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota declared March 6 “Toni Stone Day” in the city. Stone died on November 2, 1996 at the age of 75, but her legacy lives on today. An off-broadway play was produced about her life by award-winning playwright Lydia R. Diamond, entitled “Toni Stone” in 2019.