SC lawmaker proposes removing Sims monument from State House grounds. Here’s why
A South Carolina Democrat is pushing to remove a monument from the State House grounds dedicated to J. Marion Sims, the controversial father of gynecology who conducted experiments on enslaved women without anesthesia.
Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, filed a joint resolution Wednesday afternoon aimed at repealing the 1928 law that called for the monument’s erection.
“In today’s world, we know that there were some major contributions to the medical field, but there was also engagement in inhumane practices in efforts to do so,” Malloy said on the Senate floor. “These inhumane practices don’t reflect that values that we have here in this body today.”
Sims pioneered the field of gynecological medicine, developing several tools and techniques still used today. He also served as the president of the American Medical Association and helped found the American Gynecological Association.
However, Sims practiced on enslaved Black women during the 19th century, and his experiments are now largely considered unethical.
“You know, the question is, ‘Could they consent?’” Malloy said. “It’s not whether they could say yes. The question is, ‘Could they say no?’”
Under Malloy’s proposal, the Sims’ monument would be removed from the State House grounds and taken to the State Museum down the street for display.
Malloy’s resolution also proposes replacing the Sims monument with one to Robert Smalls, an man born into slavery in South Carolina who commandeered a Confederate ship and sailed himself and others to freedom.
Smalls went on to serve in the South Carolina Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives after the Civil War.
Malloy called Smalls a “hero in American history for what he did.”
Malloy’s bill has a rocky, likely insurmountable road to passage.
The bill was referred to the Senate’s Finance Committee, which is chaired by former Senate President Harvey Peeler. Peeler has long stood against the removal of monuments across the state.
The removal of the monument may also fall under the Heritage Act, a law that now requires support of a simple majority of lawmakers in both the House and the Senate for a monument or statute to be removed or renamed. Republicans have stood against taking action under the Heritage Act for fear of creating a slippery slope.
Malloy told his colleagues that now is the appropriate time to have this conversation, and urged them to help find a bipartisan solution.
“I don’t think anyone, even with the day in time, could endorse what was going on, then, under any circumstances,” Malloy said. “But at the same time, you know what we have to do is do those things that (are) right.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 2:52 PM.
