Tuskegee's Forgotten Women

This eye-opening book reveals what has been hidden in plain sight—not just "his story," but "her story" as seen through the experiences of women directly impacted by the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee.

This book acknowledges the importance of women's voices, and especially black women's voices, in history. It does so by revealing something that history has long ignored—how women were directly involved in and impacted by the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee. Arguably the most controversial and longest duration nontherapeutic research study ever performed by the United States government, the "The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Male Negro" was conducted in Macon County, Alabama, between 1932 and 1972. This book provides a new lens through which to view and acknowledge the impact of the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study on the historically overlooked women and children.



The historical narrative of the Tuskegee tragedy is customarily framed as a shocking medical experiment conducted by government doctors against African American men. Yet, women were also directly impacted, a fact that has traditionally been overlooked—until now. This groundbreaking book focuses on unique narratives of women who have been marginalized in the historical accounts of the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis study at Tuskegee.


• Explores the narratives of women standing at the intersection of research, both domestically and internationally, by shedding light on the direct impact of women in the USPHS Syphilis Study at Tuskegee (1932–1972) and the recently discovered narrative of the USPHS and Pan American Sanitary Bureau Syphilis study in Guatemala (1946–1948)

• Addresses a historically marginalized and devalued segment of U.S. society, namely women in general and black women in particular, especially in relation to healthcare, research, and medical education

• Broadens the discourse on alternate realities that impact best practices on research ethics

• Underscores the need for more explicit guidance and informed consent relative to research on human subjects to avoid people being subjected to research without their knowledge

• Serves as a vehicle through which to foster discussion of the negative legacy of the USPHS Syphilis Study at Tuskegee and encourage action to establish a positive legacy of inclusion and protection of people who voluntarily participate in research