Sims; a women's residence hall dedicated to James Marion Sims

Item

Legacies Classification
Memorial Structure
Memorial Type
Named Building
Memorial Context
Enslaver
Memorialized Subject
Sims, J. Marion
Title
Sims; a women's residence hall dedicated to James Marion Sims
Background and Context
Sims residence hall was constructed in 1939 as the second dormitory for women. It was designed by architects J. Carroll Johnson and Jessie W. Wessinger and funded in part by the Works Progress Administration. The building was named for James Marion Sims prior to its opening in August 1939. It is located on the Women’s Quad with two other women’s dormitories, Wade Hampton and McClintock. Although there is an exterior building marker with information on the date of construction, building name, and a university officials, there does not appear to be a memorial marker to Sims himself.

J. Marion Sims was an 1832 graduate of South Carolina College and a physician. He became known as the “father of modern gynecology” for his development of gynecological surgical procedures and medical instruments, including the speculum. However, he gained his knowledge by experimenting on enslaved women who were rented out from local slaveowners. From 1845 to 1849 Sims experimented on at least a dozen enslaved women. He did not use anesthesia because the common belief was that Black persons felt less pain. One woman, Anarcha, was just 17 years old when Sims began the first of the 30 procedures he would ultimately perform on her body. Records who that some doctors who assisted Sims refused to continue working with him after being made aware of his inhumane treatment of the women. Sims then used other enslaved persons to hold down the women during the surgeries.
Physical Description
A three-story residence hall with a portico and stucco facade.
Creator/Participating Person(s)
University of South Carolina
Johnson, J. Carroll
Wessinger, Jessie W.
Date created, installed or dedicated
1939
Historical Period
1890-1945: Era of the Lost Cause, Jim Crow legal segregation and discrimination, and organized anti-Black racism
Funded by
University of South Carolina
Works Progress Administration
Location: Institution, City, State
University of South Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina
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Sims College

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