Mütter Museum to host public meetings on human remains

The Mütter Museum recently announced a new initiative called “Postmortem: Mütter Museum.” Through town hall forums, workshops, and a forthcoming exhibit, the museum will invite visitors to provide feedback on questions of ethics and consent surrounding its collection of human remains.

“Right now, we know 10 people absolutely wanted to be in this building and on display, out of 6,600 [biological specimens],” executive director Kate Quinn said in an interview with The Inquirer. “We certainly know of a vast number of cases, I would say it’s in the hundreds, of people who did not at all give consent to be here, and many of them are on display today.”

In “Postmortem,” Quinn hopes to gather insights from the public and experts to inform her future decisions about whether and how the museum should display these anatomical specimens, some of which were obtained unethically — such as through grave robbing — and others for which they have very little information. Many were collected in the 1800s and 1900s.

The initiative, said Quinn, “is an opportunity to make sure that we’re covering as much of the city and residents here as we should” in the conversation about the museum and its future.

Because events such as next month’s planned town hall are open to anyone who registers for them, some of the residents whom museum officials will likely hear from are their critics — such as the members of Protect the Mütter, a group of devoted followers and former museum staffers who say the new leadership’s policies and actions are threatening the uniquely morbid and beloved Philadelphia institution.

Some of these critics say the lack of records of explicit consent does not necessarily mean the anatomical specimens were obtained unethically. And even in cases in which they were, the critics say, that is part of medical history and should be aired. Quinn says “Postmortem” will attempt to do just that.

The medical history museum, owned and operated by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, is conducting an audit of its entire collection, including research about the specimens’ provenance. Researchers have currently reviewed about 10%, and of that, less than 1% of the people who make up the anatomical specimens gave their informed and enthusiastic consent to be displayed, Quinn said. She projects that when the audit is completed, that number will be closer to 3.5%.

The Mütter is world renowned for displaying skeletons, organs, body tissue, and other specimens to showcase rare conditions, such as the livers of conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker from the 1800s or the enlarged heart of living donor Robert Pendarvis. The remains on view also expose medical history, like Josef Hyrtl’s collection of 139 human skulls, which he studied to disprove the racist medical theory of phrenology.

A team of 10 experts will guide the two-year “Postmortem” project in collaboration with Mütter staffers, including a disability activist, an ethicist, medical history experts, community engagement specialists, and someone who studies how museums display Black bodies.

In March 2024, Quinn plans to open an exhibit with surveys on which visitors can answer questions about the history of certain specimens. About 20 selected specimens on display will receive new signage detailing how they were obtained and biographical information, with questions prompting visitors to consider whether the acquisition was ethical or whether it should be on display. “Postmortem” is funded by a grant of $285,500 from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Quinn said planning for this effort began in late 2022, before she decided to remove the bulk of the Mütter’s online exhibits and popular YouTube channel showing human remains, which led to widespread backlash.

The feedback isn’t only about what is on view, but how. The museum’s 19th-century cabinet display, which dates to 1986 when popular Mütter curator Gretchen Worden renovated the space to attract more visitors, is also under review.

Quinn plans to ask the public whether the “cabinet of curiosities” design is still appropriate for the Mütter today, or whether it’s outdated and should be modernized. She points out that the casework isn’t sealed properly and that she hears regularly that it is difficult to see through the glass. (Last month, Quinn was under fire for donating old display cases to a local resale shop, which worried museum fans who believe the cabinets should be preserved.)

Depending on the initiative’s results, the museum could be subject to major renovations in the future to move away from that aesthetic entirely. “Museums have to change. They have to grow. They have to respond with the times, and there’s so many different ways to do that,” said Quinn.

The name “Postmortem” raises questions of whether the Mütter as Philadelphia knows it is dead. Quinn said it’s an examination “to look back and to see what went right and what went wrong through the years and within this body.” She added: “It’s a fresh start. … We’re not closing the Mütter. That’s not what this is.”

The first of three town hall meetings will be held Oct. 17, with registration required. Quinn and the team of experts will be in attendance and plan to offer an open Q&A with a moderator. She expects to confront her vocal critics and hopes to have “productive conversations.”

Anne Hoskins, a photographer based in Hamilton, N.J., and a member of Protect the Mütter, said she and fellow organizers planned to attend the town hall session to see whether museum officials will address the negative criticism they’ve received in recent months.

“A town hall forum will make feedback easier to police, but harder to ignore,” said Hoskins. “This could easily be another attempt to pacify those with serious concerns, instead of honestly and openly hearing what the community has to say. … Will the college heed what they hear? We’ll see.”

Note: The Oct. 17 event registration link was not available to share at press time.