James Williams

Miss Burke

Honors English 11

May 16, 2017

Night Doctors: An Annotated Bibliography

Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Broadway, 2017. Print.

This book, written by Rebecca Skloot, contains a whole chapter dedicated to Night

Doctors and their activities. With the addition of some dialogue, the reader experiences a

firsthand account of these terrors and how they affected African American families.

While much of the stories about the Night Doctors are myths, the family in this book

firmly believe in their practices. This family was kin of Henrietta Lacks, who died in

John Hopkins Hospital years before. They are confident in the fact that John Hopkins has

been kidnapping African Americans since the 1950’s.

This source discusses the early life of John Hopkins and the foundation of the Hospital.

She explains how he donated a sum of seven million dollars to the hopsital and appointed

twelve men to serve as his trustees. She briefly outlines the letter he wrote to these men,

which explained the purpose of the hospital and how it is supposed to function. She

emphasizes his concern for black children, low costs, and fair wages. The source reflects

on the success of the Hopkins Hospital in its early years. However, it later mentions the

decline of Hopkins’s relations with black people.

 Skloot dives into greater detail about the controversies surrounding the Night Doctors.

She recalls a lawsuit between two women and John Hopkins hospital, where the women

sued Hopkins for purposely exposing their children to lead. Skloot also mentions a case

where the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against a man who received blood

from patients and used them for a study without consent. Despite this, the study was later

resumed with consent forms.

Halperin, Edward C. "The Poor, the Black, and the Marginalized as the Source of Cadavers in

United States Anatomical Education." Clinical Anatomy. Wiley Subscription Services,

Inc., A Wiley Company, 16 Jan. 2007. Web. 18 May 2017.

<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ca.20445/pdf>.

This source provides many historical accounts of graverobbing and Night Doctors

throughout the 1900’s. It highlights the hospitals, universities, and anatomy studies that

needed corpses to dissect. Anatomy professors referred to the grave robbers as

‘resurrectionists’. Graverobbing was a seriously problem throughout the United States,

however little was done to stop it. Many people turned a blind eye to these acts and

ignored what they were doing. Meanwhile, resurrectionists were being paid for every

cadaver they delivered to the hospitals.

Halperin discusses the new anatomy laws that were passed in the United States and the

events that followed. Many anti-anatomy rioters sprung up in response to these new

guidelines. As anatomy became more publicly accepted, law enforcement over grave

robbing began to decline. Very few people were caught in the act, and most of them were
 not severely punished. Halperin does an excellent job in explaining the historical

significance of the change in anatomy laws.

The article does an outstanding job identifying the usual targets of body snatchers and

night doctors. Halperin mentions that the people who were most commonly susceptible to

having their bodies taken were African Americans, the poor, and the marginalized. He

explains that these people often had few rights to protect them, and few people still alive

to speak for them. They became a prime target as a result of this, since the graverobbers

and the buyers had low risk. This source contains much evidence of the historical

significance of grave robbing and provides references to support the author’s claims.

Fr. Peter A. Clark, S.J., Ph.D. "Log in." Catholic Health Association of the United States. N.p.,

Sept.-Oct. 2003. Web. 21 May 2017. <https://www.chausa.org/publications/health-

progress/article/september-october-2003/prejudice-and-the-medical-profession>.

Clark presents a logical and factual viewpoint of the preceding circumstances that led to

the tales of the Night Doctors. He discusses their origins as well as how time has affected

and twisted their true stories. The article describes the causes of racism in the community

of medicine. He recommends practical and applicable strategies for reforming trust

between hospitals and minorities.

Clark’s main argument derives from the Tuskegee Institute and their syphilis study on

African Americans. He acknowledges the unethical practices that were done during the

syphilis experiment, but then proceeds to explain what happened after. He makes a point

to differentiate between the meanings of ‘legend’ and ‘rumor.’ Clark mentions that
 folklore largely comes from a legend that is passed down through generations with

tweaks in the story every time it is told. With all of the exaggerations that are added into

the story, it creates a very corrupt image of the medical field. Clark says that the African

Americans have a justified reason to distrust medical institutions.

This source is an excellent account of things change over time. It provides much

justification to how African Americans have mixed opinions on hospitals in the United

States. Clark does an outstanding job pointing out the flaws in the system during the

eighteenth and nineteenth century. He provides an optimist point of view to repairing a

broken system.

"Body Snatching Around the World." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 21 May

2017. <http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/body-snatching-around-the-

world/>.

This source offers a brief overview of body snatching and graverobbing. Published by

PBS, this quick summary of body snatching provides enough information to make it an

interesting article. The authors refer to the first incident of body snatching in history,

which happened in 1319. They explain how four medical students of the medical school

of Bologna were caught in the act. The article discusses why there was a sudden rise in

body snatching during the eighteenth century. It mentions the revival of anatomy studies

and the desperate need for cadavers. Particularly, they refer to the resurrectionists, who

were men and women paid to dig up bodies to sell.

 An interesting part of this write-up was the discussion of the strategies used by

resurrectionists. It analyzes how these criminals would choose their targets, locations, and

digging procedures. One specific strategy that was used involved having women attend

the funeral of the grave they planned to dig up the next day. The few people that were

involved in this risky business became quite good at it. These grave robbers began

making a decent wage off of each body they managed to sell to their buyers.

Overall, this source is a great summation of the history of graverobbing and its

resurgence during the eighteenth century. While the information supplied is limited, it

still contains some valuable details. PBS does a fantastic job to supply people with what

they should know about these unusual crimes and businesses.

Rothman, Joshua. "When Bigotry Paraded Through the Streets." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media

Company, 04 Dec. 2016. Web. 19 May 2017.

<https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/second-klan/509468/>.

This source primarily deals with the rise of the new Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Rothman

does a fantastic job discussing their origins and their eventual rise to power. He believes

that the publicity of the Klan helped them gain massive amounts of followers. While it is

an estimate, Rothman says there were at least two and a half million followers by the late

1920s. He also claims that many families supported the KKK even if they were not direct

members of it.

The author uses great detail in describing the motives and actions carried out by members

of the Klan. He explains that while this group was based primarily on white supremacy, it
was not just anti-black. Rothman claims that the KKK came for Catholics, Jews, Asians,

Mexicans, and many more. It even states that abortion doctors and prostitutes were all

common targets for their terrors. They carried out whipping, floggings, torturing, and

murder.

To conclude the article, Rothman dissects the fall of the Klu Klux Klan. While it is still

up for debate, he believes that they basically self-destructed. He says that America’s fear

of foreign ideology was what hurt the Klan’s reputation. Shortly after their peak during

their march in Washington D.C., the Klan was on the downfall ever since. Rothman

presents multiple viewpoints on why the Klan failed, and overall makes convincing

arguments for each.