Judge tosses opposition to Penn’s plan to rebury Black Philadelphians in Morton Collection

A Philadelphia Orphans’ Court judge on Thursday threw out opposition to Penn Museum’s petition to bury and repatriate the physical remains of Black Philadelphians held by the museum’s Morton Cranial Collection.

Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper heard arguments from attorneys representing the University of Pennsylvania anthropology and archaeology museum and the opposition, Philadelphia activist Abdul-Aliy Muhammad and Lyra Monteiro, a Rutgers professor, anthropological archaeologist, and historian, before ruling that the opposing party had no legal standing in the case.

The ruling nullified the pair’s additional filings, which included objections to Penn Museum’s burial petition and an alternative proposal for how best to care for and honor people in the Morton Collection.

“I certainly understand your concern and the issues you are raising,” Woods-Skipper said to Muhammad and Monteiro. “As a judicial officer, I must follow the law.”

The Orphans’ Court ruling marks a turning point in an ongoing conflict between one of the nation’s most prestigious anthropological museums and African American communities exploited by Samuel George Morton, an 1820 Penn graduate who stole African American remains and used their skulls to promote racist science and assert white supremacist ideas.

Morton amassed his collection of human skulls and mandibles in the mid-19th century, obtaining the remains unethically and without consent. During Wednesday’s hearing, Penn Museum deputy director Stephen Tinney read how Morton described one of the Black Philadelphians in his collection as a “negro idiot.”

Muhammad and Monteiro believe that Penn Museum should not handle burial and repatriation of the Morton Collection because the institution has already badly botched the handling of the remains. About two weeks ago, they submitted to the court a proposal for a “Finding Ceremony,” their “descendant community-controlled process” that would allow members who identify as descendants of any of the more than 1,300 crania in the Morton Collection to decide how best to honor those in the collection.

Monteiro and Muhammad outlined their opposition and proposal to a crowd gathered outside City Hall before the hearing.

“Penn Museum is claiming it’s impossible to find lineal descendants and saying as descendant community members, we’re not a charitable trust,” and therefore cannot take control of ‘charitable assets,’ including the remains in the collection,” Monteiro explained.

“Did you just turn these people,” she said, “some of whom were enslaved in their lifetimes, back into property?”

Penn Museum went to the Orphans’ Court for permission to bury 20 Black Philadelphians recently discovered in the Morton Collection. The institution wants to bury the remains at Eden Cemetery, a historic African American cemetery in Collingdale, and hold a burial ceremony with plaques erected in honor of the dead.

Following the dismissal of the objections, the full-day hearing continued with testimony from Christopher Woods, director of the Penn Museum; Sheila Jones, operations manager at Eden Cemetery; and Jesse Williams Mapson, senior pastor at Monumental Baptist Church on 50th and Locust Streets.

Mapson served on the Morton Cranial Collection Community Advisory Committee, a group convened to determine what should happen with the deceased Black Philadelphians in the collection.

He said he was aware of and saddened by the fact that everyone was not on board with Penn’s proposal, but still signed a document joining and supporting Penn’s plans and petition.

“It would be wrong to hold up the burial for other issues,” Mapson said. “The burial is just one step toward healing. Other steps need to be taken.”

Woods-Skipper, the Orphans’ Court judge, did not decide if the university can proceed with its plan to bury the remains at Eden Cemetery. She is expected to issue a decision at a later date.