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Ugly History: The U.S. Syphilis Experiment - Susan M. Reverby

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Afflicting nearly 1 in 10 Americans, syphilis was ravaging the U.S. in the 1930s. Many doctors believed syphilis affected Black and white patients differently, and the Public Health Service launched an experiment to investigate, recruiting 600 Black men to take part. But the study was centered on a lie: the men wouldn’t actually receive treatment. Susan Reverby details the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

In the 1930s, the most common treatments for syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease, were:

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Susan M. Reverby
  • Director Rikke Planeta, Philip Piaget
  • Narrator Christina Greer
  • Storyboard Artist Rikke Planeta, Philip Piaget
  • Animator Philip Piaget
  • Art Director Federico Pirovano
  • Producer The Animation Workshop, Bethany Cutmore-Scott
  • Music Stephen LaRosa
  • Sound Designer Stephen LaRosa
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal, Dan Kwartler
  • Script Editor Iseult Gillespie
  • Production Coordinator Abdallah Ewis
  • Fact-Checker Jennifer Nam

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