
Examining Tuskegee
The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy
Susan M. Reverby(Author)
The University of North Carolina Press
Published on 30. November 2009
Book
Hardback
416 pages
978-0-8078-3310-0 (ISBN)
Description
This title presents the facts and fictions of race, medicine, and trust. The forty-year 'Tuskegee' Syphilis Study has become the American metaphor for medical racism, government malfeasance, and physician arrogance. The subject of histories, films, rumors, and political slogans, it received an official federal apology from President Bill Clinton in a White House ceremony. Susan M. Reverby offers a comprehensive analysis of the notorious study of untreated syphilis, which took place in and around Tuskegee, Alabama, from the 1930s through the 1970s. The study involved hundreds of African American men, most of whom were told by doctors from the U.S. Public Health Service that they were being treated, not just watched, for their late-stage syphilis. Reverby examines the study and its aftermath from multiple perspectives to explain what happened and why the study has such power in our collective memory. She follows the study's repercussions in facts and fictions. Reverby highlights the many uncertainties that dogged the study during its four decades and explores the newly available medical records. She uncovers the different ways it was understood by the men, their families, and health care professionals, ultimately revising conventional wisdom on the study. Writing with rigor and clarity, Reverby illuminates the events and aftermath of the study and sheds light on the complex knot of trust, betrayal, and belief that keeps this study alive in our cultural and political lives.
More details
Series
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Chapel Hill
United States
Edition type
New edition
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
761 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8078-3310-0 (9780807833100)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2009
The University of North Carolina Press
€24.49
Available for download
Person
SUSAN M. REVERBY is Marion Butler McLean Professor in the History of Ideas and Professor of Women's Studies at Wellesley College. She is editor of Tuskegee's Truths: Rethinking the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (UNC Press).