There are three statues in the United States honoring Dr. James Marion Sims, a 19th-century physician dubbed the father of modern gynecology.

Invisible in his shadow are the enslaved women whom he experimented on.

Today, they are unknown and unnamed except for three: Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey.

This week, we grapple with their story and the troubling history of medical experimentation on African Americans.