The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Roanoke native will have a statue where Robert E. Lee's statue once stood

Ms. Henrietta Lacks

Next year, Roanoke, Va., will add to its monuments a bronze statue honoring the short (1920-1951) life of Henrietta Lacks. The statue will sit in a plaza where a monument to the Confederate commander once stood.

If you haven’t read the award-winning 2010 book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” it’s hard to describe how important is Ms. Lacks’ story. Rebecca Skloot’s book followed the impact of Lacks’ unknowing donation of cells in 1951 after she sought radium treatment for cervical cancer at The Johns Hopkins University. (The book was eventually made into a movie.)