Lacks Family Tree

Henrietta's Ancestors

Robin Lacks

Winston BenJamin Albert Maria

Tommy Chloe

Eliza J. R. Pleasant

Gladys Loretta (Henrietta)

Henrietta's great grandfather Albert Lacks was white and had five children with his slave Maria. One of which was named Tommy who had a daughter named Eliza who married J. R. Pleasant who had eight children one of which was Loretta Pleasant. It is unknown why but Loretta later took the name Henrietta.

Lawrence Bobette

Ron Antonetta Courtnee Erika

Children Grand Children

Lawrence was Henrietta and Day's first child. He married Bobette after returning from the military, he was drafted because he faked his age on his ID. Together they raised Lawrence's siblings after they found out they were being abused.

Elsie

She was Henrietta's second child and first daughter. She was diagnosed with idiocy and later sent to the "Hospital for the Negro Insane" (Skloot 45) for epilepsy. She was frequently visited by her mother until Henrietta was hospitalized. Elsie died in the institute at the age of 15.

Sonny Sheryl

Tom Jeri David Aiyana JaBrea

Children Grand Children

Henrietta's third child, after Henrietta's death he, Dale and Joe were taken care by their cousins Galen and Ethel who physically abused him. Once they found out Sonny and his siblings were being abused they were taken care of by his brother Lawrence and his wife Bobette.

Alfred (Cheetah) Carter Dale Reverend James Pullum

Alfred Jr. Latonya

Little Alfred Davon Meade

When Dale was living with Ethel and Galen, Galen sexually abused her and put “his hands under her skirt, in her pants, between her legs” (Skloot 113) and she eventually lost all emotional connection with him. Her first ex-husband was Alfred Carter who she had two children with named Alfred Jr. and Latonya. She later married her second ex-husband James Pullum who was a steel mill worker, mechanic and preacher. Hearing of the incident with her mother's cells caused her serious health problems and required her to take several medications. Her grandson Davon took care of her through it all. Without her the book might of never been created, though she died of a heart attack before it was finished.

Joe

Out of all the children Joe was abused the most by Ethel and Galen. Ethel would tie him up in the basement for hours at a time and beat him bloody (Skloot 112). Eventually “he stopped feeling pain” (Skloot 112). All the abuse lead to him being a scornful and angry person which later ended him up in prison. There he converted to Islam and changed his name to Zakariyya Bari Abdul Rahmon. He was one of the most hostile of the children to Rebecca when she was collecting information for the book.

Lacks Family Tree and Legacy

Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta's Family

Medical/Scientific Community

Chester Southam (Top, Left)

Alexis Carrel (Top, Right)

Christopher Lengauer (Bot., Right)

Significant Locations

Henrietta David (Day)

Lawrence Lucille David Jr. Debora Joseph

(Elsie) (Sonny) (Dale) (Joe)

• Alexis Carrel - Claimed to culture "immortal" chicken heart cells.
• Chester Southam - Conducted unethical cancer experiments on ill informed test subjects, by injecting them with "Hela Cells."
• Emmanuel Mandel - Who was partnered with Chester Southam, and was the director of the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital.
• Christoph Lenguer - Developed FISH(Fluorescence in situ hybridization) and reached out to members of the Lacks family.

This was referred to by the Lacks family as the home house. It was owned by Henrietta's Grandfather and is where Henrietta, Day and many of their cousins spent their childhood working on a tobacco farm.

Johns Hopkins' Hospital a very important location in the book considering it is where Henrietta's cells were extracted and cultured. This was one of the only hospitals in the US that would treat the colored at this time for free, because of that the Lacks had to drive the extra distance for Henrietta's treatment.

Henrietta's Cousins

Medical/Scientific Community Continued

Henrietta's Hometown

Henrietta lived her early life in Clover, Virginia more specificatly Turner Station where the home house is located. Here she and her cousins helped her grandfather grow tobacco and would travel with him to sell it in South Boston at the tobacco auction.

• Cliff Garret - Henrietta and Cliff worked the tobacco fields together.
• "Crazy Joe" Grinnan - He was in love with Henrietta and attempted to kill himself when she rejected him and when he found out Day was going to marry her.
• Fred Garret - He convinced Day and Henrietta to move to turner station.
• Galen - Molested Debora.
• Ethel - Galen's wife, she tortured Sonny, Debora, and Joe.

• George Gey - Developed the technique for culturing Hela Cells.
• Howard Jones - "Henrietta's gynecologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital."
• Margaret Gey - "George Gey's wife and research assistant."
• Leonard Hayflick - "Microbiologist who proved normal cells die when they've double about 50 times."
• Mary Kubicek - First person to culture Hela Cells.
• Richard Wesly TeLinde - Conducted cancer research on Henrietta's cells at Johns Hopkins.

George Gey (Top, Left)

Howard Jones (Top, Right)

Margaret Gey (Mid., Left)

Leonard Hayflick (Mid., Right)

Mary Kubicek (Bot., Left)

Richard W. TeLinde (Bot., Right)

Medical/Scientific Community Continued

More Cousins

Sparrow's Point

After being confinced by their cousin Gary, Henrietta and Day moved to Sparrow's Point to work in a steel mill. The steel mills boomed in Sparrow's Point because of the increased need for steel as a result of World War 2. This would be the financial source for many African Americans until the factories busted like most after the war.

• Roland Pattillo - Only Affrican-American student of George Gey, he organizes annual Hela conferences in Henrietta's honor.
• Stanley Gartler - Dropped "Hela Bomb" when he stated most cell cultures have been contaminated by Hela Cells.
• Susan Hsu - Took samples from the Lacks family to perform testing without their consent.
• Victor McKusick - Conducted research on said Lacks family cells at Johns Hopkins.
• Walter Nelson-Rees - Named the cell lines that were contaminated with Hela without warning the researchers.

• Gary Lacks - Gladys' son and Debora's cousin, he preformed a faith healing on Debora.
• Margaret and Sadie Sturdivant - Henrietta's confidants during radiation treatments. She and Sadie would sneak out to go dancing.
• Hector "Cootie" Henry - He was diagnosed with polio, he showed Skloot the house in which Henrietta lived in. He later committed suicide by shotgun.

Roland Patillo (Top, Left)

Stanley Gartler (Top, Right)

Victor McKusick (Bottom, Left)

Walter Nelson-Rees (Bottom, Right)

Works Cited

Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown, 2010. Print.

"Rebecca Skloot Journalist, Teacher, Author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Bio «

Rebecca Skloot. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

Rebecca Skloot

Rebecca Skloot was born September 19, 1972 in Springfield Illinois. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Her award winning science writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine" (RebeccaSkloot, Bio). Her father and mother were Floyd and Betsy Skloot. She was the main help the Lacks family received during their search for the truth about their mother.

Thank You

By: Joseph Miller

Micah Griffith

Sam Johnson