20: Claudette Colvin and Henrietta Lacks

Claudette Colvin was arrested at age 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus just nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. Claudette and Rosa knew each other very well. Was Claudette the inspiration for Rosa not giving up her seat? We think she just might be!Lynn tells us about Henrietta Lacks, known by scientists as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years.Thank you to our sources!PhotoPhotoPhotoThe Legacy of Henrietta LacksHenrietta Lacks (1920–1951)A Civil Rights Pioneer Seeks to Have Her Record Cleared - CLAUDETTE COLVIN (1935- )Claudette Colvin - Quotes, Facts & Civil RightsClaudette Colvin: The 15-year-old who came before Rosa Parks