THE MORE UP CAMPUS
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
For the first time since the civil rights movement there is a national reckoning around race in America. More Up seeks to participate in this reckoning by finding creative ways to honor the voiceless, the minimized, the ignored. Phase I is the erection of the “Mothers of Gynecology” monument, to honor the sacrifice of Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey, the enslaved experimental subjects of the so-called “father of gynecology,” J. Marion Sims.
More Up is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and the “Mothers of Gynecology” monument will stand not far from where Sims’s dastardly experiments were conducted. Drawing on a comprehensive re-examination of Sims’s career, and never-before-seen archival documents that reveal the lives and fates of Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey, the “Mothers of Gynecology” will act as a first step toward teaching and reimagining the true story of the nation, facing the injustice of the past and honoring the courage of overlooked heroes.
May 8th at 6:00 pm CT
Behind the Sheet
by Charly Evon Simpson
live virtual reading
Naomi Lorrain, Cristina Pitter, Nia Calloway, Stephen James Anthony, and Joel Ripka in the production of BEHIND THE SHEET at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.
Join us as we introduce a live virtual reading of Charly Evon Simpson's off-Broadway Production of Behind the Sheet, directed by Colette Robert. Charly Evon Simpson confronts the history of a great medical breakthrough by telling the forgotten story of a community of enslaved black women who involuntarily enabled the discovery. In 1840s Alabama, Philomena assists a doctor - her owner - as he performs experimental surgeries on her fellow slave women, trying to find a treatment for the painful post-childbirth complications known as fistulas. Reframing the origin story of modern gynecology, Behind the Sheet tells how these women supported each other, and questions who, and what, history remembers.
by Charly Evon Simpson
directed by Colette Robert
featuring Stephen James Anthony, Nia Calloway, Bjorn DuPaty,
Naomi Lorrain, Cristina Pitter, Joel Ripka, Megan Tusing,
Amber Reauchean Williams, & Jehan O. Young
Stage Directions: Sifiso Mabena
Stage Manager: Fran Acuña-Almiron
May 9th 1:30 - 3:30 pm CT
Mother's Day Groundbreaking
for the Mothers
of Gynecology:
Anarcha, Lucy & Betsey
17 Mildred St. Montgomery, AL
Please join Michelle Browder and Special Guest Tatyana Ali (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) for a Mother’s Day Groundbreaking View and Chew Brunch at the future site of Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey. The jewelry created for the Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey monument will be on full display.
FREE EVENT!
press conference & news
DECEMBER 8, 2020
WITH ‘MOTHERS OF GYNECOLOGY,’ A SCULPTOR'S TRIBUTE TO ENSLAVED WOMEN MAIMED FOR SCIENCE
MARCH 28, 2021
Michelle Browder has passed by the statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims that stands on a pedestal in front of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery countless times. And every time her reaction is the same: “Infuriated. I know we need a reckoning,” Browder told The Chronicle.
“The fact that Sims is glorified became very problematic for me,” she said during a recent afternoon lunch break at the Box Shop, a collaborative artists’ workspace in Hunters Point.
Browder, a multimedia artist and activist based in Montgomery, is in San Francisco through March to work with Bay Area sculptor Dana Albany on completing her massive art project, “Mothers of Gynecology.” It’s inspired by Browder’s indignation over the fact that Dr. Marion J. Sims’ reputation as the “father of modern gynecology” has eclipsed public acknowledgement of the enslaved women who made his medical discoveries possible.
ENSLAVED WOMEN SUFFERED IN GYNECOLOGY EXPERIMENTS.
A MONUMENT PROJECT FOR THEM VISITS L.A.
MARCH 5, 2021
3 campus projects
PHASE 1
MOTHERS OF GYNECOLOGY
15' MONUMENT
GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY
MOTHER'S DAY -- MAY 9, 2021
ANARCHA, LUCY & BETSEY
MONUMENT
Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey
were enslaved women from plantations in and around Montgomery, Alabama. With neither consent nor anesthesia, they were experimented on by Dr. J. Marion Sims in the 1840s. After publishing the results of his "success," Sims moved to New York to seek fame and fortune. Within a decade, he became known as the Father of Gynecology. By contrast, Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy fell into history. They changed the world, only to be forgotten by it. A 15-foot public monument will honor these women, tell their story, and shine a light on ongoing racial disparities in the healthcare industry today.
MONUMENT SKETCHES
BY MICHELLE BROWDER
By Michelle Browder
By Michelle Browder
By Michelle Browder
THE MONUMENT ARTISTS
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
ART CONSULTANT
SCULPTOR AND KEY CONSULTANT
PHASE 2
THE MORE UP SCHOOL &
TRAVEL CENTER
ESTIMATED COMPLETION: DECEMBER, 2021
MORE UP
TRAVEL CENTER
The Travel Center will accommodate (32-beds) and educate travelers and activists visiting the Montgomery area through an established curriculum of art, true historical exploration, and critical thinking -- inspiring participants to engage in social justice activism when returning to their own communities.
PHASE 3
THE CREATIVE
CHANGEMAKERS MUSEUM
ESTIMATED COMPLETION: MARCH, 2022
THE CREATIVE
CHANGEMAKERS MUSEUM
The Creative Changemakers Museum is an innovative experience of art and history. Expression and innovation are key to fostering the minds of the next generation. The museum will explore the unknown history of how Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey, and the City of Montgomery, played a crucial role in the history of medicine. That history is changing lives even today, in Africa. Art, music, and conversation changes narratives and heals wounds of indifference. Travelers to the museum, of all ages, will be inspired to become Creative Changemakers.
proposal
To see the full proposal detail with a LIST OF NAMED GIVING OPPORTUNITIES or to MAKE A PLEDGE of any size, please contact Michelle Browder, Executive Director,
at michelle@anarchalucybetsey.org.
Contact Us
17 Mildred Street, Montgomery, AL 36104
Tel: 334-296-3024