Cast member Aminita Francis who plays Henrietta Lacks in Actors Touring Company’s play Family Tree, opening at Tobacco Factory Theatre this week, arm in arm with the statue of her namesake, designed by Helen Wilson-Roe, at Bristol University.

 

Not many people know about the remarkable Black woman Henrietta Lacks or her incredible legacy and the influence she has had on modern-day medicine which still reverberates today. But Henrietta never knew any of this. Her cells were taken without her or her family’s knowledge or permission. 

 

However Bristol does have a stronger connection than most to Henrietta Lacks.

 

See below the link on how the statue of Henrietta Lacks  was created by the black Bristol sculptor Helen Wilson-Roe and then erected at the Royal Fort, in Bristol University in 2021.

 

 

 

Photo credit:  Edward J. Felton