The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Woman Behind the Cells

Henrietta Lacks was born in 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia, and grew up in the rural tobacco-farming community of Clover after her mother died giving birth to her tenth child. Her large family was divided among relatives, and Henrietta went to live with her grandfather in a wooden cabin that once served as slave quarters. Life demanded labor rather than education—Henrietta stopped attending school after sixth grade.

Henrietta shared a room with her cousin David “Day” Lacks, who later became her husband. Together they worked the tobacco fields, tended livestock, and struggled to survive in a segregated, impoverished South. She was known as beautiful, confident, generous, and devoted to her children. At fourteen she gave birth to her first child, followed by another at eighteen, all while living in harsh conditions that left little room for childhood.

In 1941 Henrietta married Day, and inspired by promises of wartime manufacturing jobs, the couple moved to Turner Station near Baltimore. The relocation seemed a chance at a stable future and better opportunities for their growing family. There they raised five children: Lawrence, Elsie, Sonny, Deborah, and Joe.

The Discovery of Cancer

In 1951 Henrietta discovered unusual vaginal bleeding and found a lump on her cervix during a self-exam. Day took her to a local doctor who referred her to Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the few institutions treating African Americans during segregation.

At Hopkins, gynecologist Howard Jones examined the mass and noted its unusual appearance and rapid growth. A biopsy revealed a severe, fast-spreading cervical cancer. Treatments at the time were aggressive and painful. Henrietta underwent radium therapy, in which rods containing radioactive material were physically inserted near the tumor.

Unbeknownst to Henrietta, during her first treatment the surgeon also removed samples of both cancerous and healthy cervical tissue and sent them to researcher George Gey, who had spent years attempting to grow human cells outside the body without success.

The Birth of an Immortal Cell Line

Human cells prior to Henrietta’s typically died shortly after removal from the body. Scientists could not culture cells long enough to study disease or test drugs effectively. But Henrietta’s cancer cells were unlike any scientific specimen ever observed.

Her cells not only survived—they multiplied at astonishing speed, doubling every 24 hours and continuing to divide indefinitely. Gey labeled them “HeLa” using the first two letters of Henrietta’s first and last name. He realized he had discovered the first immortal human cell line, a scientific leap that would alter the course of medicine forever.

HeLa could be grown in enormous quantities, frozen and revived without damage, sent around the world, and subjected to experiments impossible with living patients. Researchers gained, for the first time, a renewable window into human biology.

The Decline and Death of Henrietta Lacks

While HeLa cells thrived, Henrietta’s health deteriorated rapidly. Radiation severely burned her skin, tumors invaded multiple organs, and pain medications offered little relief. Doctors attempted to shrink the tumors to ease her suffering, but nothing worked. She continued worsening, suffering excruciating pain that left her screaming for help.

She ...