Photo Caption: A play about Henrietta Lacks, depicted in this portrait by Grand Rapids artist Jamari Taylor, will be staged Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

Did you know we can thank a woman with links to Kalamazoo for many of the medical breakthroughs in modern times, including the COVID vaccine? Her name is Henrietta Lacks, and she is a great aunt of Kalamazoo resident Jermaine Jackson.

“Without her cells, we would not have had many advances in the medical field,” said Jackson, while noting Lacks is more than just her cells. “I want people to know who she was as an individual, as my aunt, as a mother, as a grandmother, as a sister and as a wife.”

The “A HeLa Story: Mother of Modern Medicine” original play and mini exhibit opening in September at Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Kalamazoo Valley Museum chronicles the local connections and fascinating contributions of Lacks, whose cells were involuntarily taken more than 70 years ago and are still used around the globe in experiments to develop cures and therapies. All programming will be free.

Researchers continue to utilize Henrietta Lacks’ cell line known as HeLa cells, because, unlike other human cells, hers have the unique ability to multiply on their own outside of the body. Hers were the first to do so in a lab setting. Lacks, an African American mother of five, died on Oct. 4, 1951, at age 31, from cervical cancer. During a medical procedure while she was living, cells from Lacks’ cancerous tumor were taken for research purposes without her or her family’s permission at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1951. The practice was common at the time.

John Hopkins shared her cells with the scientific community worldwide. It never sold or profited from the discovery of HeLa cells, and does not own them. Among many things, Lacks’ cells have led to the polio vaccine and AIDS and cancer treatments, and to the awarding of Nobel Prizes to several scientists.

“The Henrietta Lacks story, which has worldwide significance, has gone underreported for too many years,” Museum Director Bill McElhone said. “I’m most excited about advancing awareness of her and exploring her story filled with many accomplishments, inequities and injustices to drive important conversations.”

The exhibit is inspired by the artwork, memorabilia, family photos, news clippings and other items in a traveling exhibition about his late aunt that Jermaine Jackson completed in early 2020, right before the pandemic began. The “A HeLa Story: Mother of Modern Medicine” is a joint project between the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and Kalamazoo Valley Community College in collaboration with Jackson. It is funded in part by the KVCC Foundation. The exhibit starts Sept. 1.

The play, written by local playwright Buddy Hannah, shares the personal side of Lacks, who was married to a brother of the husband of Jackson’s grandmother, Bessie Lacks, of Kalamazoo; it also touches on Jackson’s mission to ensure Lacks’ story is widely known. Hannah will direct. The play is interwoven with poems and essays from area writers William Hatcher, Aija Hodges, Charles E. Peterson Sr. and James J. Smith. The logo for “A HeLa Story” features a Lacks portrait by Grand Rapids artist Jamari Taylor.

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater will host the play three times: at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, and at 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1. Zaynee Hobdy, a member of Face Off Theatre Company in Kalamazoo, plays Henrietta Lacks, and director/actor Sid Ellis plays Jermaine Jackson. Also starring will be D. Neil Bremer, Jennifer Clark and Aija Hodges, with Angela Anderson and Kim Chandler serving as narrators.

For more information, visit kalamazoomuseum.org. Seating for the play is limited and will be on a first come, first served basis. The exhibit will run from Sept. 1, 2022, through Feb. 27, 2023. Admission to the play, exhibit and museum is free. The museum, located at 230 N. Rose St. in downtown Kalamazoo, is operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College and is governed by its Board of Trustees.

ABOUT KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Established in 1966, Kalamazoo Valley Community College offers certificate programs in more than 50 areas of study and associate degrees in 60 others. These include business, healthcare, human and public service and technical occupations, culinary arts and brewing training. The college has four Kalamazoo, Michigan locations, including the Texas Township Campus, the Groves Campus, the Arcadia Commons Campus and the Bronson Healthy Living Campus. Classes are available during the day, evening, online and weekends.