The career of Augusta Savage was fostered by the climate of the Harlem Renaissance. During the 1930s, she was well known in Harlem as a sculptor, art teacher, and community art program director. Savage was considered to be one of the leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance, a preeminent African American literary and artistic movement of the 1920s and '30s. Born Augusta Christine Fells in Green Cove Springs, Florida, on February 29, 1892, she was the seventh of fourteen children of Cornelia and Edward Fells. Iin 1932, Savage established the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts and became an influential teacher in Harlem. After a failed attempt to establish herself as a sculptor in Jacksonville, Florida, Savage moved to New York City in the early 1920s. Although she struggled financially throughout her life, she was admitted to study art at Cooper Union, which did not charge tuition. Before long, the school gave her a scholarship to help with living expenses as well. Savage excelled, finishing her course work in three years instead of the usual four. In 1934 she became the first African-American member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. In 1937 Savage's career took a pivotal turn. She was appointed the first director of the Harlem Community Art Center and was commissioned by the New York World's Fair of 1939 to create a sculpture symbolizing the musical contributions of African Americans. Negro spirituals and hymns were the forms Savage decided to symbolize in The Harp.Inspired by the lyrics of James Weldon Johnson's poem Lift Every Voice and Sing,The Harp was Savage's largest work and her last major commission. Her medium was clay, plaster, and bronze and she is a master of her craft. She experienced many ups and downs throughout her career, but we are thankful for her perseverance. Thank you for your contributions. (1892-1962)
Black History 365 | # 231 The Bellville Three
Shoutout to the creators of Techno music. Made up of three friends from Detroit Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson — The Belleville Three. Named after the high school they all attended, these three producers are credited with creating the sound and style of Techno music. How fresh is that? The teens shared a common interest in musical acts like Kraftwerk, Parliament and the B-52's. Juan Atkins was the first to purchase a synthesizer and later taught the other two how to DJ. Atkins and May began to DJ in Detroit clubs under then name Deep Space Soundworks. By 1981, Detroit radio personality The Electrifying Mojo was playing mixes that the three had recorded. Juan Atkins began his career in the early 1980s, producing music under the pseudonym Model 500, as well as in the group Cybotron. His early tracks, which blended elements of electro, funk, and Chicago house, were instrumental in defining the sound of techno. In 1985, he released No UFOs, a track that would become one of the genre’s most enduring classics. Derrick May’s contributions to the techno scene cannot be overstated. As a producer, he was known for his innovative use of technology and his ability to craft complex, layered tracks that were both danceable and emotionally resonant. His signature sound combined elements of funk, electro, and Chicago house, resulting in a futuristic and distinctive style that set him apart from his peers. Kevin Saunderson’s influence comes from his ability to combine technical proficiency with emotional depth. His tracks are known for their complex and intricate arrangements, but they also possess a soulful quality that sets them apart from the work of many other producers. This unique combination of technical skill and emotional resonance has made Saunderson one of the most respected and admired producers in the world of electronic music. Yes yes y’all. Techno music is black music, made for the world to enjoy.
Black History 365 | # 230 The Untreated Syphilis Torture Studies (1932-1972)
The Untreated Syphilis Torture Studies is widely known as The Tuskegee Experiments. This tyrannical sadism was conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) from 1932 and 1972. What happened here was sick and twisted to say the least. The study was supposed to observe the natural history of untreated syphilis. Syphilis is an infection caused by bacteria. Most often, it spreads through sexual contact. The disease starts as a sore that's often painless and typically appears on the genitals, rectum or mouth. Syphilis spreads from person to person through direct contact with these sores. It also can be passed to a baby during pregnancy and childbirth and sometimes through breastfeeding. Without treatment, syphilis can damage the heart, brain or other organs. It can even lead to blindness. It can become life-threatening. So, the plan was to infect black men with syphilis — not treat them and study them as they died. Charles Pollard, a survivor of the torture is quoted as saying "All I knew was that they just kept saying I had the bad blood - they never mentioned syphilis to me. Not even once." The U.S. Public Health Service collaborated with local doctors and nurses to recruit roughly 400 black men presumed to have non-contagious late stage syphillis as well as 200 non-syphilitic black men as their control group. Participants were told that they would receive free drugs and care for their condition. This was a lie. Research performed spinal taps on these men to investigate neurological consequences of the disease. When these men died the USPHS would fund funerals in exchange of studying the bodies of the dead men. The public "studies" note these men as volunteers when they were not. 10 years into these tortuous “experiments” treatment for syphilis had advanced, it was discovered that penicillin cured the disease in its early stages, but in Tuskegee they continued to torture these men and continued to withhold the knowledge of the cure from these men. Similar morally abhorrent studies were conducted on inmates, sex workers, soldiers, and mental health patients in Guatemala in 1940 by the U.S. as well as similar “studies” secretly infecting patients with viral hepatitis and cancer cells. What?
Black History 365 | # 229 Henrietta Lacks
This is Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks is a woman who came into John Hopkins Hospital with the issue of vaginal bleeding. It was then discovered that she had a large, malignant tumor on her cervix. She began undergoing radium treatments for her cervical cancer. She was written in history as the woman with “immortal cells.” Upon examination where other cells would die, Mrs. Lacks' cells doubled every 20 to 24 hours. This is because unlike other cancer cells, Henrietta’s cells had the extraordinary ability to divide and multiply outside of the human body — thus being dubbed “immortal." Henrietta's cells had a massive impact in blood cancer research, as they led to advancements in chemotherapy. Her cells were shared with the worldwide research community, who conducted experiments and made groundbreaking scientific discoveries. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 30, and Henrietta Lacks died at 31 in the “colored ward” — she was a mother of five. She passed away less than a year after her diagnosis. She was buried in an unmarked grave. What particularly ill about this is that these scientists collected cervical cancer cells of Henrietta Lacks without her consent. Her cells were then used to establish the HeLa cell line (named with the first two letters of her first and last name) which was used in several groundbreaking medical discoveries – . Now, for what would have been Henrietta Lacks’ 103rd birthday, her family, settled a lawsuit with Thermo Fisher – a multinational biotech company over the lack of ethics in consent in 2023. It don’t stop. Lordhavemercy.
Black History 365 | # 228 J. Marion Sims Statue
James “J” Marion Sims is known as the father of gynecology. 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. These life threatening experiments caused excruciating pain. 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. Adding to his legacy, he has a statue in his honor. This statue of J. Marion Sims was first erected in 1894 in Bryant Park, and then relocated to Central Park in 1934 to stand across the street from the New York Academy of Medicine, which became its permanent home. Nothing on the monument names the 11 enslaved women he inhumanely experimented on. In 2018, New York City removed the statue of J. Marion Sims from a pedestal in Central Park. The statue will be moved to a cemetery in Brooklyn where Sims, sometimes called the "father of gynecology," is buried. A new informational plaque will be added both to the empty pedestal and the relocated statue, and the city is commissioning new artwork to reflect the issues raised by Sims' legacy. Since 2010, it took public protests, 26K petition signatures, and multiple attempts to destroy the monument have finally resulted in its removal. Progress is a process. The names of three teenagers — Lucy, Betsey, and Anarcha — are largely all that is known of the dozen enslaved Black women who were horrifically experimented on. May their souls (and names unknown) rest well.