GPS City GuideMontgomeryMothers of Gynecology Monument

Stop 20 of 26 · Montgomery audio walking tour

Mothers of Gynecology Monument

Montgomery · 2021 · Monument honoring enslaved women

What you'll hear here: about a minute on Mothers of Gynecology Monument — how it came to be, who it mattered to, and what to look for while you're standing in front of it.

Michelle Browder's Mothers of Gynecology Monument was unveiled at 17 Mildred Street on September 24, 2021, and you have reached it, near the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Three towering statues depict Anarcha Westcott, Betsey, and Lucy—enslaved women who had no agency and who were either bought or rented from their enslavers and were patients of the controversial doctor and "father of gynecology" J. Marion Sims, whose office was nearby. The statues are made from discarded metal objects that the artist collected with public contributions, chosen "to symbolize how Black women have been treated and to demonstrate the beauty in the broken and discarded.

Anarcha rises to 15 feet, the tallest; Lucy stands 12 feet; Betsy, 9 feet. Browder explained she made them so "never again [would] anyone look down on these women. Look closely: two of the figures wear replicas of a slave ship—Anarcha around her legs, Lucy around her waist.

Anarcha's womb, created by Montgomery artist Deborah Shedrick, is discarded. Notice the scale and the materials of the three figures, and the nearby National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

Where it is

Coordinates
32.37096, -86.30969
Area
Montgomery
Era
2021 · Monument honoring enslaved women
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.