An Ivy League university on Saturday buried the remains of 19 black men whose skulls were used as part of a racist scientific research project in the early 19th century.
The University of Pennsylvania held a historic memorial service to honor a Philadelphian whose skulls were unethically collected to support white supremacist research aimed at proving that blacks are a distinct human race from whites.
Research was conducted, beginning in the 1830s, by doctor Samuel G. Morton, who looted human remains from institutions that housed poor and mentally ill blacks.
Body parts of unknown and non-consensual subjects have been on display at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archeology and Anthropology since 1966.
University officials say they are trying to correct past mistakes through repairs — something that has drawn some pushback from local activists who say officials rushed to make funeral plans before identifying the bodies and making plans without community input.
“Giving back should be part of what a museum does, and we should embrace it,” said Christopher Woods, the museum’s director.
The museum honored 19 black Philadelphians in a service on Saturday. AP
Woods said they chose to hold an above-ground burial should any of the 19 individuals be identified, the mausoleum “by design completely reversible if facts and circumstances change.”
While some local activists say the decision to bury the remains at Eden Cemetery, a local and historic black cemetery in Darby, Pa., was made without community input, others — including researchers — have challenged the idea that the identity of Philadelphians has been lost.
“They never did their own research on who these people were, they took Morton’s word for it,” said Lyra Monteiro, a professor of anthropological archeology at Rutgers University. “People who aren’t prepared to do research shouldn’t be doing this.”
Going through the city’s public archives, Monteiro discovered that one of the man’s mothers was Native American — meaning her remains must be repatriated through the Native American Graves Repatriation and Protection Act.
Unidentified remains are buried in above-ground graves should further research lead to a correct identification. AP
Although the university removed the set of remains from reburial so they could be evaluated, Monteiro and others were outraged when they discovered the university had laid another set of remains to rest last weekend out of public view.
Members of the Black Philadelphians Ancestry Community Group, organized by people who identify as descendants of some of the 19 individuals, said in a statement they were “devastated & hurt” that the funeral took place without them
“Based on this new information, they take time to process and consider how best to honor their ancestors in the future,” the group said.
Remains are collected unethically and used to spread racist pseudoscience. AP
The collection of remains, some of which are used in teaching as early as 2020, has been unethically collected since the 1830s.
Morton collected at least 900 skulls in Philadelphia, where he was a professor of medicine responsible for training most of the doctors of the time – something critics say fueled the medical racism that is still evident today.
“Medical racism can really exist behind it,” Monteiro said. “The idea is to become part of the way medical students are trained.”
The Penn Museum defended its actions in a statement.
“To balance prioritizing individual human dignity with conservation due diligence and the logistical needs of Historic Eden Cemetery, the burial of 19 Black Philadelphians was scheduled before an interfaith ceremony and blessing,” he said.
The funeral drew mixed reactions, with some local activists criticizing the university for not including them in the funeral process. AP
The university still has more than 300 Native American remains in the Morton Cranial Collection to be repatriated by federal law.
The burial comes as New York City’s American Museum of Natural History was forced to close its Native American exhibit on Friday as part of new rules approved by the White House last month to speed up the repair process.
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Relocation Act, AMNH is removing its display of Native American remains with plans to return them to the tribes that once belonged to them.
The closure will leave nearly 10,000 square feet of exhibition space off limits to visitors.
With Postal wire.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
