Miss Ever's Boys

This past Wednesday, I went to go to see the play Miss Ever’s Boys. Miss Ever Boy’s was a dramatic depiction of the infamous Tuskegee Experiment, in which poor African American sharecroppers were subject to decades of abuse from the U.S Public Health Service. From 1932 to 1972, around four hundred men suffered the effects of syphilis for the health service’s experimental purposes. The term, “Bad Blood” was used to diagnose those men with the disease. The participants were manipulated with the promise of free medical care, meals, and free burial insurance. Even though the cure for the disease, penicillin, was discovered later on, the subjects remained untreated.

In the play, Miss Ever’s the black practicing nurse informed men, they could get tested for bad blood. Before the experiment, Caleb Humphries, Ben Washington, and Willie Johnson, were three lively entertainers, with dreams of making it into the prestigious Cotton Club. By the end of the experiment they were left mentally ill, crippled, and dead. To recognize them for years and years of participation they all received a certificate from the health services. Despite Miss Ever’s close relationship with the men, and the desire to stop aiding the experiment, she continued to abuse the men with the promise of a higher position.

I found the play very intriguing and informative. The acting, dancing and overall execution of the plot could not be more profound.