Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dozens of human skulls of Black people some hundreds of years old will be returned to their communities of origin for reburial, according to a commitment by the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archeology and Anthropology.
On Monday, the Penn Museum issued both an apology for possessing the skulls in its historic Morton Collection and outlined a plan to repatriate them.
“The Penn Museum and the University of Pennsylvania apologize for the unethical possession of human remains in the Morton Collection,” wrote Dr. Christopher Woods, who became the new director of Penn Museum on April 1. “It is time for these individuals to be returned to their ancestral communities, wherever possible, as a step toward atonement and repair for the racist and colonial practices that were integral to the formation of these collections.”
Penn Museum to repatriate remains of Black people from Morton Collection whyy.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from whyy.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SWFLA To Do List: ‘Fish, Fruit & Fine Dining and much more
Marco Eagle
‘Fish, Fruit & Fine Dining: Marco Island s Food Culture’
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, now through July 10. Marco Island Historical Museum,180 S. Heathwood Drive, Marco Island. Reception 4-5:30 p.m. April 14. In addition to its fishing, Marco Island was once a major supplier of pineapples, mangoes, and other citrus fruits to the rest of the United States. Art and historic photographs of the foods grown, caught and prepared here are in the exhibition. Information: themihs.org or 239-389-6447.
COCO Gallery
From 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Sundays, 8074 Mediterranean Drive, Coconut Point Mall, Estero, adjacent to Panera. Artists of Shellpoint Village now through April 28; April 10-11, Fort Myers artist Tracy Cullimore will paint onsite. Information: cocoartgallery.com.
Image: Julianna Whalen, Penn Museum
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has announced its action plan regarding the repatriation or reburial of ancestors, including the remains of Black Philadelphians within the Samuel G. Morton Cranial collection. This plan is based on an April 8, 2021 report outlining recommendations from the Morton Collection Committee, which was formed in August 2020; the Committee’s report is being publicly released on April 12, 2021.
Collected in the first half of the 19th century by Samuel G. Morton whose research was used to justify white supremacist views, the collection was moved from the Drexel Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia to the Penn Museum in 1966. It is currently housed in storage in the Museum’s Physical Anthropology Section.
Penn Museum apologizes for its Morton Collection of more than 1,000 human skulls dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.