Lucy

Lucy was an enslaved woman from Macon County, Alabama, who became one of the first subjects of experimental gynecological surgery performed by physician J. Marion Sims in the mid-19th century. After developing a vesicovaginal fistula following a traumatic childbirth, she was treated alongside two other enslaved women, Anarcha and Betsey. Although Lucy was the first patient in Sim's experimental fistula surgeries, these procedures took place in Montgomery, Alabama, where Sims had relocated around 1845.

Lucy was described as an adolescent in Sim's autobiography, leading many historians to estimate she was approximately seventeen to eighteen years old at the time. After developing a fistula following childbirth, she was initially considered incurable by Sims. As her condition worsened, she was brought to Sims by her enslaver, Tom Zimmerman.

Experimental surgeries Lucy was among the early patients treated during the development of Sim's surgical techniques, although sources differ regarding the sequence of his initial operations.

Sims described Lucy's condition in his writings, and she remained in his care in a hospital behind his home. These experimental procedures contributed to the foundation of modern surgical treatments for vesicovaginal fistulas, while also raising ongoing ethical concerns about consent and medical exploitation. She and the other women are referred to as the "Mothers of Gynecology" in modern day discussions and have been recognized through memorials and continued study.