Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., January 26, 2015—The family of Henrietta Lacks will visit Williams College on Wednesday, Feb. 11, to discuss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. The book is the focus of this year’s Williams Reads program. This event will take place on the MainStage of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance at 8 p.m. It is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. For tickets, call the ’62 Center Box Office Tuesday through Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 413-597-2425, or order online at 62center.williams.edu/box-office.
The international success of Skloot’s book, a New York Times best seller, has created an interest in both Henrietta’s legacy and the surviving members of the Lacks family. The family will share what it meant to find out decades later that Henrietta’s cells were being bought and sold in laboratories around the world. The Lacks family is proud to honor the memory of Henrietta and her contributions to science. Their presentation offers a first-person perspective on the collision between ethics, race, and the commercialization of human tissue.
David Lacks Jr., Henrietta’s son, is a computer engineer and a member of the board of National Institutes of Health that is responsible for establishing policies on experimentation with HeLa cells. Shirley Lacks will discuss her experience in the South and the culture of the time.
Williams Reads is an annual opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and community members to connect through a common reading experience. Each year, the Committee on Diversity and Community (CDC) selects a book that will stimulate community engagement and challenging conversation. For the 2014-15 academic year, the CDC selected Skloot’s book. It tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells became vital to medical research after doctors took them without her permission.
This event is sponsored by the Thomas B. Healy Fund, Williams Reads, and the Gaudino Fund. For more about the Williams Reads program, go to http://sites.williams.edu/williams-reads/.
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For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Communications (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/map
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Published January 26, 2015
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