Controversial Sims statue moved to Green-Wood Cemetery

<p>A controversial statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims was moved to the Green-Wood Cemetery after a mayoral advisory committee voted to have it taken out of Central Park.</p>

News 12 Staff

Apr 17, 2018, 5:06 PM

Updated 2,206 days ago

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A controversial statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims was moved to the Green-Wood Cemetery after a mayoral advisory committee voted to have it taken out of Central Park.
Sims was known for pioneering advancements in gynecology through unethical means.
He tested operations on enslaved black women -- without anesthesia.
Crews removed the statue from Central Park Tuesday morning. The New York City Public Design Commission approved its relocation to Green-Wood Cemetery, where Sims' body was buried.
The statue will sit in storage until construction of a historical display is finished.
A marking at his Green-Wood gravesite identifies Sims as the founder of the New York State Woman's Hospital.
Richard Moyland, the president of Green-Wood Cemetery, told News 12 that placing the sculpture near his gravesite is not meant to glorify Sims but to provide factual and historical information about him.
The marking mentions "his shameful experimentation on enslaved women in the South between 1845 and 1849."
"As a national historic landmark, the responsibility to preserve this history, and not to whitewash it, is something Green-Wood takes very seriously," Moyland said in a statement.
Moyland says the cemetery is home to many prominent historical figures.


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