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Statues: sculpting a tarnished legacy

Nature volume 549, page 334 (2017)Cite this article

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Nature's editors have often courted controversy by taking provocative stances. In some cases, such as the 1908 editorial supporting the admission of women to scientific societies (Nature 78, 226–228, 1908), this has reflected well on the journal's legacy. In others, such as the 1968 piece suggesting that the Cultural Revolution would benefit Chinese science (Nature 217, 1196–1197; 1968), it has not. I fear that your discussion of the statue of surgeon J. Marion Sims (1813–83) falls into the latter category (Nature 549, 5–6; 2017).

You should have consulted scientists of colour and historians of science before opining on the right way to remember such a fraught and painful history. In my view, your vague and euphemistic discussion of Sims' work 'whitewashes' (to use your term) his legacy more effectively than removing his statue ever could.

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  1. Washington DC, USA

    Melinda Baldwin

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  1. Melinda Baldwin
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Correspondence to Melinda Baldwin.

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Baldwin, M. Statues: sculpting a tarnished legacy. Nature 549, 334 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/549334a

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