In order to persuade these African Americans to participate in the experiment, the Tuskegee Things offered them small favors, such as reimbursing travel expenses for each visit and providing lunch on examination days. Although these benefits were trivial, they were still extremely attractive to the impoverished African Americans during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Of course, the price paid by these African Americans was enormous. They not only sacrificed their right to health, but even entrusted their deaths to the Tuskegee Things. The experiment agreement they signed even stated that their bodies would be handed over to Tuskegee University for medical research after their death.
