Mothers of Gynecology
Friday, April 4 12-1 p.m. | Jefferson Alumni Hall Atrium, 1020 Locust Street
Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff and registered attendees of the 2025 Health Humanities Consortium Conference. Lunch provided while supplies last.
Michelle Browder is the artist, sculptor, and creator of The Mothers of Gynecology Monument in Montgomery, Alabama. Browder’s monument reclaims the history of the enslaved Black women – Anarcha, Betsey and Lucy – who underwent medical experimentation by physician J. Marion Sims in the late 1840s. A decade earlier, Sims received his medical degree at Jefferson Medical College.
For nearly 35 years, artist and activist Michelle Browder has used art, history, and “real talk” conversations to mentor marginalized and disfavored students through visual arts and spoken word. She has created and branded art diversion programs used by juvenile detention centers in Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama. Michelle is the founder and director of the I AM MORE THAN... Youth Empowerment Initiative located in Montgomery, Alabama, and the founder of More Than Tours, a social enterprise providing transformative tours of Alabama. Michelle is dedicated to transforming narratives surrounding maternal and women’s health by leveraging art, history, and bold discussions from a woman's viewpoint. Her work has been featured in and on PBS News Hour, Washington Post, Montgomery Advertiser, Partners In Health, American Medical Association, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, ACOG Medical Journal, National Geographic, and New York Times.
Moderator: As Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab, Paul Farber is among the nation's thought leaders on monuments, memory, and public space. Farber is author and co-editor of several publications and his forthcoming book, After Permanence: The Future of Monuments, will be published with the University of North Carolina Press. Farber’s curatorial and collaborative work includes Beyond Granite: Pulling Together with Salamishah Tillet, the first curated multi-artist public art exhibition on the National Mall in Washington D.C. (2023), and Declaration House in Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park (2024) with Anna Arabindan-Kesson and Yolanda Wisher. Farber is the host and creator of The Statue, a podcast series from WHYY/NPR. Farber is Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art & Space at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a PhD from the University of Michigan in American Culture.
Michelle Browder's visit is presented as part of the 2025 Health Humanities Consortium Conference.
Michelle Browder’s visit is supported by a 2024-2025 Pedagogy Grant from the Jefferson Center for Faculty Development and Nexus Learning. The grant, “Before Diversity, Equity and Inclusion There Must Be Empathy Dignity and Respect: Truth-Telling About the Origins of Racism in U.S. Healthcare Through Art and History,” is led by Monica Medina-McCurdy, MHS, PA-C, Assistant Professor, College of Health Professions; Amber King, PharmD, BCPS, FNAP, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Co-Director, Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education; and Megan Voeller, Director of Humanities, Sidney Kimmel Medical College. The event is co-presented with the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education and Bernard L. Lopez, MD, MS, CPE, FACEP, FAAEM, FCPP, Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Thomas Jefferson University. The event organizers would like to thank the many colleagues and students who have contributed to the support and planning of Browder's campus visit.
