VUJC to show documentary on horrific radiation experiments that occurred in Southern Indiana

Jasper –Vincennes University Jasper Campus is hosting a screening of the documentary Hole in the Head: A Life Revealed, followed by a discussion with the author, Wilbert Smith.

Wilbert Smith wrote the book and created the documentary, along with Director Brett Leonard, about the radiation experiments conducted in 1927 on black children at Lyles Station, Indiana. These hideous experiments are part of a largely unexamined legacy of illegal human experimentation, much of it conducted on African-Americans, and other minorities, and also on prisoners.

The 2009 documentary tells the story of one of these children, now deceased, Vertus Hardiman. These experiments literally took off Hardiman’s scalp. The experiments were misrepresented as a newly developed cure for the scalp fungus known as ringworm. In reality, the ringworm fungus was merely the lure used to gain access to innocent children whose unsuspecting parents blindly signed permission slips for the treatment.

This award-winning documentary is a compelling, highly moving, human-interest story that vividly conveys the triumph of the human spirit’s example of tremendous moral character overcoming horrific crimes of medical experimentation. Hole in the Head: A Life Revealed documents how the lives of two friends, one the victim and the hero of the story, the other a caring friend who saw it as his duty to bring the story to light, were changed forever through their friendship.

To see more about the book and documentary, visit www.holeinthehead.com. Join in the conversation and view the documentary in the VUJC Lecture Hall on Thursday, November 8 at 6:30 pm. The public is invited.

For additional information, contact Alli Baer, Student Activities Coordinator at VUJC, at (812) 481-5941 or abaer@vinu.edu.