Morgan State University and the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum are partnering to honor the legacy of Henrietta Lacks with a wax figure. Dedicated to her contributions to research science and medicine, all are welcome to attend the unveiling of her figure on March 15, at the Morgan State University’s Behavioral and Social Sciences Center.
The official unveiling is set for 1 p.m.., and the surrounding event will teach attendees about Lacks and her legacy — who was a former Turner Station resident. Her cells began the very first immortal human cell line called the HeLa line.
After the official unveiling, Lacks’ wax figure will be moved to permanently reside at the Great Blacks in Wax Museum.
The Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group said in a press release, “The Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group (HLLG) is dedicated to extending
the legacy of Mrs. Lacks and that of historic Turner Station where she lived at the time of her death. With the help of the public, HLLG raised the funds necessary to create a wax figure of Mrs. Lacks that will be housed in the National Great Wax in Blacks Museum.”The press release continued, “We are proud of the accomplishment and the enduring legacy that will be on full display in the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum.”
Henrietta Lacks changed the medical industry forever in 1951 after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and treated at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
Before her death at just 31, her cells were harvested without her consent for research at the university. Lacks’ cells, now Known as HeLa cells, have contributed to biotechnology and its progress as it is one consistent living cell line for research.
The immortal cells can grow and divide indefinitely, thus enabling a multitude of innovative and life-saving studies on human cells as they exist outside the body.
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