Henrietta Lacks was born 97 years ago on August 1, 1920 in Virginia. She was born into a very poor household and with 8 siblings. Henrietta’s mother, Eliza Pleasant, died when Henrietta was only 4 years of age during childbirth. After her mother’s unexpected death, her father moved the children to Clover, VA. Henrietta worked on her grandfather’s tobacco farm growing up. Henrietta at the age of 14 had her first child with her cousin, David. She later married David when she was 20 years old. The couple went on to have 5 children. Henrietta at the age of 31 felt a mass on her cervix and was taken to see Dr. Howard Jones, a doctor at John Hopkins hospital. Dr. Jones, without consent, took tissue samples of the troublesome mass and sent them to
