* Warning: This is an unofficial, introductory copy of the bill.
The official copy considered by the City Council is the first reader copy.
Introductory*
City of Baltimore
Council Bill
Introduced by: Councilmember Stokes
A Bill Entitled
An Ordinance concerning
title
City Property - Renaming Ambrose Kennedy Park to Henrietta Lacks Educational Park
For the purpose of changing the name of Ambrose Kennedy Park, located at 1002 Harford Avenue, to Henrietta Lacks Educational Park.
body
By authority of
Article 5 - Finance, Property, and Procurement
Section 20-2
Baltimore City Code
(Edition 2000)
Recitals
In January 1951, Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman, went to The Johns Hopkins Hospital because of abnormal pain and bleeding, and she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. During subsequent radiation treatments, doctors removed 2 cervical samples from her, without her knowledge. She died later that year of the disease.
The cells from her tumor made their way to the laboratory of researcher Dr. George Otto Gey, where he noticed that they had an unusual property, that of durability, unlike most cells that survived only a few days. He isolated and multiplied a specific cell, thus creating a cell line that he named HeLa, derived from the name of Henrietta Lacks.
The HeLa strain revolutionized medical research. Jonas Salk used the strain to develop the polio vaccine, sparking much scientific interest in the cells. Since then over 10,000 patents involving HeLa cells have been registered, and researchers have used the cells to study disease.
In honor of her contributions to medical research, Morgan State University granted Henrietta Lacks a posthumous honorary degree. It is fitting that th...
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