Bad Blood, Bad Science Distillations | Science History Institute

The word “Tuskegee” has come to symbolize the Black community’s mistrust of the medical establishment. It has become American lore. However, most people don’t know what actually happened in Macon County, Alabama, from 1932 to 1972. This episode unravels the myths of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Syphilis Study (the correct name of the study) through conversations with descendants and historians.
Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago
Senior Producer: Mariel Carr
Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Associate Producer: Padmini Raghunath
Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer
“Innate Theme” composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.


Resource List Black Journal; 301; The Tuskegee Study: A Human Experiment
Descendants of men from horrifying Tuskegee study want to calm virus vaccine fears, by David Montgomery 
Examining Tuskegee: The infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy 
Nova: The Deadly Deception 
Susceptible to Kindness: Miss Evers’ Boys and the Tuskegee Syphis Study 
Tuskegee Legacy Stories
Under the Shadow of Tuskegee: African Americans and Health Care, by Vanessa Northington Gamble
Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation