Henrietta Lacks has finally been given a proper headstone at her grave site in Virginia
Friends and family [5] gathered for a small ceremony in Clover, Virginia where Lacks has been buried on a family plot since 1951.
Since her death from cervical cancer [6] Lacks' cells -- the infamous "HeLa" line -- have been cultivated by scientists and used for everything from polio [7] vaccines [8], to studies of cancer [9], HIV and Parkinson's disease [10]. Thanks to the book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks [11]" by Rebecca Skloot [11], the world found out that the cells of a poor Black woman have helped changed modern medicine.
"We talk about Obama, we talk about Franklin Roosevelt, but I'd put Henrietta Lacks [12] up there with any of them," said North Carolina Central University [13] chairman, David Kroll [14], at a tribute service over the weekend.
SOURCE: Essence [5]
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