New Aldie School Honors Henrietta Lacks

New Aldie School Honors Henrietta Lacks

By Bill Cauley

Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman, didn’t know it at the time, but cells from a biopsied tumor in her body were going to become a part of medical history in the research to find a cure for cancer and other diseases years later..

Lacks, who died from cervical cancer on Oct. 4, 1951, at age 31, was never truly compensated for her medical contribution. At the time, no consent was required when such parts of the body were harvested during disease treatment and research.

It was an injustice which, although addressed years later, has never really been talked about. However, a new Loudoun County public school, set to open next year, will bear Lacks’ name in the hopes more people, for generations to come, will realize what major contribution this woman, although somewhat-unknowingly, has made in the advancement of medical science.

Henrietta Lacks Elementary School, which will be located at 41125 Collaboration Drive in Aldie, is set to house up to 960 students ranging from kindergarten through second grade. The projected opening date of the new school in August, 2024, according to Daniel Adams, spokesman for Loudoun County Public Schools, announced shortly after the school board approved the move on June 13.

In her book: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” New York-based book author Rebecca Skloot recounts the Roanoke-born native’s life and how she was a victim of institutional racism, although what happened to Lacks could no longer happen in the modern medical era, because of modern patient privacy issues, it remains a story which still needs to be told.

During her treatment for cancer in 1951, doctors extracted cells from a tumor in her body. Neither Lacks, nor her family, were told of this extraction of cells, nor were they even consulted on the matter.

At the time, such tissue removal was normal. Consent was not needed. Further study of these cells revealed they were quite different than other cells, which died during treatment. Later named: “HeLa Cells,” after Lacks, doctors discovered these unique cells were considered immortal, doubling every 20 to 24 hours.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in Baltimore, said these cells were crucial in the development of vaccines, including Polio and the COVID-19 virus. Skloot noted, in a previous interview with Smithsonian Magazine, while the discovery of these cells advanced a scientific cause in medicine, becoming an industry worth billions, the Lacks’ family were never given proper credit for Henrietta’s contribution and the family remained in poverty.

The Lacks’ family has sued for compensation. Meanwhile, many medical journals now acknowledge Lacks’ contributions to the research in the hunt for cures for cancer and other major diseases. Various articles, documentaries and films regarding the research surrounding what was discovered in those cells harvested from Lacks, have been published.

Although she would move to Baltimore County, Maryland, where she was treated for cancer and eventually died, school officials in Loudoun County felt it appropriate the new elementary school in Aldie be named in Lacks’ honor, since she was a Virginia native. There was some push-back when it came to naming the new school after her, but the motion was eventually carried and the name Henrietta Lacks Elementary School was approved.

Ian Serotkin, Loudoun County school board chairman, has said it’s possible some of the students attending this new school may not have been born, had it not been for the research and scientific advancements made possible by Lacks.