Henrietta Lacks Museum

This winter, 9^th grade Honors Biology students studied the story of Henrietta Lacks, a woman who unknowingly donated the first human cells that were able to grow in cell culture in the 1950’s. Students read excerpts from Rebecca Skloot’s best-selling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and viewed the 1998 BBC documentary, The Way of All Flesh, to learn about Henrietta Lacks and her impact on the scientific and medical communities in the twentieth century. The students participated in debates surrounding the bioethical issues related to the preservation of Henrietta’s story and did their own research to learn about her family, her impact, and her legacy. To conclude this unit, students worked as a class to create a museum to teach the Upper School community about Henrietta’s story and share all that they had learned.