Judging history’s heroes and monsters

Dear Editor,

As someone who's been drawn to matters of race and gender by choice and by force, two articles in particular stood out: Out of the shadows: the medical legacy of racism and Judging history's heroes and monsters. I completed my medical training in Ghana however I first learnt of the 'full' history behind the Sims speculum while I was on an elective in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Michigan Medical School several years ago. Prof Timothy R.B. Johnson was hosting (now) Nobel laureate Denis Mukwege and the discussion centred around his work on repairing vesico/recto-vaginal fistulae as well as gender based violence. In a segue, Prof Johnson highlighted the then little known fact that Dr Sims not only operated on several enslaved African women without anaesthesia but it is believed he also iatrogenically created lesions that he would later repair all in a bid to perfect his craft.

Contrary to what Mr Sheather suggests, I don't think we'll have to wait for our descendants to judge us. Our racism and social inequalities highlighted by Covid-19 are currently under investigation, the industrial slaughter of animals has likely driven the largest growth in veganism our species has ever seen and if Greta Thunberg is to believed, there's already a case against us for our environmentally destructive consumption. Don't quote me on this...but it's probably not going to go our way. While I disagree with the unceremonious toppling of Edward Colston's statue in Bristol, I do think we need to be honest about who we honour and elevate and what it means to celebrate a trader's wealth without mentioning the main items he traded in. Why are we obligated to detach a moral good from the wrong it's wrapped up in?

Dr. Sims' fame is well earned but his infamy is also well deserved and I do not think we should rename the Sims speculum. I would like to think that we're all mature enough to be consciously aware of an individual's or object's multiple characteristics simultaneously. Dr Sims had a dogged dedication to find 'a cure' for what is still a debilitating and ostracising condition and humanity is significantly better for it. He also inflicted unimaginable suffering on many humans who will sadly never be named let alone apologised to or compensated. This, we should not forget.

There are personal and cultural differences in how we show honour to both the living and the dead. Maintaining the Sims name on his invention is different from naming a street that he's never crossed, in a town that he's never heard of, in a state he's never visited after him. Dr. Sims might have been raised to a level of honour that we now feel is undeserved but we should be careful that in adjusting for this past over-estimation, we do not disproportionately erase the undesirable truths which we're (too) eager to forget.

The 'story' behind the Sims speculum wouldn't have meant as much to me if I hadn't learnt to recognise and name (both eponymous and descriptive) several common surgical instruments as young impressionable youth. The stories behind many inventions are an interesting mix of serendipity, perseverance and providence and the story behind the Sims speculum is all these things but it is also a social commentary on the past and a lesson for the future. Lest we forget.

Best Regards,
Sandra