Mütter Museum is changing the way it collects and displays human remains
After a few contentious years, the museum is adopting a more holistic approach instead of focusing only on specimens and the medical condition they represent.
Following more than two years of controversy, the Mütter Museum adopted a new policy regarding the human remains in its collection, the organization announced this week.
Human remains will still be displayed “for the purpose of education, following careful consideration of the reasons for, and circumstances surrounding the reasons for display,” the policy states.
Instead of focusing only on the specimen and the medical condition it represents, the museum will now update its displays and online information to reflect a more holistic approach to acknowledging the individual whose remains are on display.
The announcement comes after an extensive audit, part of a program called “Postmortem: Mütter Museum" assessing approximately 6,500 anatomical specimens, the majority of which were obtained in the 1800s and 1900s. Funded by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the project was initiated under former director Kate Quinn and invited public feedback on the ethics of displaying human remains through town hall-like meetings, focus groups, and an exhibit.
“What we take from this process is that the debate about whether to exhibit human remains really presents a false choice,” said Sara Ray, the museum’s senior director of interpretation and engagement, in a statement. “The issue isn’t whether we should or shouldn’t exhibit human remains, but rather can we do so in a way that does justice to these individuals and their stories as we trace the history of medicine, bodily diversity, and the tools and therapies developed to treat them.”
Along with announcing the human remains guidelines, the museum said it will restore about 400 videos to its YouTube channel, which had been removed in January 2023 under Quinn’s leadership.
Quinn spearheaded further changes in an effort to move the museum “away from any possible perception of spectacle, oddities, or disrespect of any type,” she told staff. That included taking down all images of human remains from the website, canceling a forensics-related exhibit and the annual Halloween event Mischief at the Mütter.
Her decisions led some museum fans to organize a petition to “protect the Mütter” from what they saw as an effort to drastically transform the institution. Others called for the museum to take a more critical approach and consider removing human remains altogether from its collection, which contains specimens from historically marginalized people who could not or did not grant their consent to be researched or put on display.
Earlier this year, Quinn was removed from her position as the Mütter and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the museum’s parent organization, changed leadership. Under new president and CEO Larry R. Kaiser, the position of museum director was eliminated. That work is now under the purview of Ray and Erin McLeary, the senior director of collections and research.
McLeary has led a new “de-anonymization research project” to identify the people whose bones, organs, and tissue are in the Mütter’s collection, to better humanize and contextualize who they were and how their remains came to the museum.
“The College recognizes that historically, many human remains were obtained in unacceptable circumstances, including through force or duress, or were acquired for research or displays exemplifying what is now seen as scientific racism,” the updated policy states.
In addition to this research, the Mütter will consider claims for repatriation of human remains with “openness and transparency” and says that leadership will be “proactive in discussing the possible repatriation of relevant human remains with contemporary communities of origin.”
Moving forward, the museum will only accept human remains if they come from a living donor who bequeaths their remains to the Mütter. That had been a looming question for a handful of people living with rare conditions who had discussed donating their bodies (or body parts) with museum officials before Quinn was hired.
Upcoming educational programs and exhibits will emphasize the individual behind the anatomical specimen and acknowledge the history of how their remains were acquired. Any images of human remains distributed on the website or social media will also include that context and only be used for educational purposes.