Читать книгу The Tuskegee Syphilis Study - Fred Gray - Страница 9

I am going to tell this story from my perspective as the attorney for the men who were participants in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and as a veteran civil rights lawyer. However, this story belongs to Charlie Pollard, Herman Shaw, and the other 621 participants and family members I was privileged to represent. The story also belongs to my late wife, Bernice, who was a meaningful source of encouragement during and after the lawsuit and who was instrumental in the conception of the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center.

I acknowledge with gratitude my co-counsel of record, my law partner for more than twenty-five years, Solomon S. Seay, Jr. In addition, over the years, the following attorneys in our law firm assisted: Edwin L. Davis (1926-1998), Charles D. Langford, Cleveland Thornton, Billy Carter, Honorable Aubrey Ford, Walter E. McGowan, Stanley F. Gray, Fred D. Gray, Jr., and Ernestine S. Sapp.

I also acknowledge with great appreciation the assistance James H. Jones gave me during the early stages of Pollard, et al. v. United States of America, et al. He located the early records of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in 410 boxes in the National Archives. These records assisted in settling the lawsuit. Mr. Jones is also the author of Bad Blood, and has granted permission to quote portions of his book. He is now a Professor of History at the University of Houston, in Houston, Texas. Notice should also be paid to Peter Buxtun, who courageously called this matter to the attention of the public.

I am grateful for the assistance rendered by Jack Greenburg, who at the time we filed the suit was Director/Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He recommended Michael Sovern, then Dean of Columbia University Law School to serve as legal consultant. I am appreciative to Dean Sovern and Harold Edgar, a professor at Columbia University Law School. They rendered valuable assistance in drafting pleadings, briefs, preparation of settlement documents, and generally serving as legal consultants.

I express my thanks to Joanne C. Bibb, my secretary for thirty years, who has had the primary responsibility in recent years of working with me, the participants and heirs of deceased participants, including serving as an escort for Mr. Herman Shaw to attend the presidential apology. She has rendered valuable service in filing, preserving, and coordinating the records in this case, and in assisting with this book.

I am most appreciative to the late Honorable Preston Hornsby, who was Judge of Probate of Macon County at the time the lawsuit was filed. Without Judge Hornsby’s assistance in appointing 463 personal representatives of the estates of the deceased participants, many of the heirs of the deceased participants would not have shared in the proceeds of the settlement.

In addition, I thank Thomas Caver, Clerk of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, for his assistance with the calculations and disbursements of funds to the participants and the heirs of deceased participants.

I am grateful to the following members of our staff who assisted in various capacities: Alberta Magruder, Trudy B. Powell, Annie L. Bailey, Vanessa Gray Taylor, Patsy D. Smith, and Sherrie P. Cook. Patricia Powell transcribed most of the manuscript.

I am deeply appreciative to my editor, Randall Williams, of Black Belt Press.[1] When I was writing Bus Ride To Justice, Randall and I realized many of the cases referred to were of sufficient historical significance to deserve books of their own. At that time, we could only give a summary of those cases. Shortly after the apology, we began to discuss and work on this book. He is everything you would want in an editor, a friend, and a publisher. He has tremendous skill, insight, knowledge, experience, and has greatly assisted in guiding me in the production of this work. I will always be thankful to him and to the members of the staff of Black Belt Press.

Thanks also to the following persons who have read, edited, and given valuable assistance: my brothers, Dr. Abdullah H. Ghandhistani, Judge Thomas W. Gray, and Hugh C. Gray; my sister, Pearl Gray Daniels; and my children, Deborah, Vanessa, Fred Jr., and Stanley.

I am appreciative to Charlie Pollard for coming into my office on July 27, 1972. Without Mr. Pollard’s request for legal assistance, the story of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study might have been short-lived and justice for the participants might never have been obtained.

I express my gratefulness to Mr. Herman Shaw, who in recent years has served as spokesman for all of the participants, both living and deceased. I am appreciative to the other 621 men who unknowingly risked their lives in order to help their country in a health care program. I am also appreciative to the family members of the men who have helped me over the years. As a result of their participation, I am committed to keeping their story alive, and to preserve their contributions and the contributions of others in the field of human and civil rights through the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center. A portion of the proceeds from this book will go to the Center.

I also thank Jewell Handy Gresham Nemiroff, president of the Hansberry-Nemiroff Fund, who called me after the airing of Miss Evers’ Boys to express her concern over that production. Mrs. Nemiroff has been consistently supportive and helpful.

Finally, thanks to my friends Robert Burton and James Upshaw for listening, reading, and generally encouraging me to complete this book. We discussed it almost daily during lunch.

Note

1 - The forerunner company of the present publisher, NewSouth Books, where Williams is editor-in-chief and still my editor.