Anatomized Without Consent: Ethical entanglements, marginalized persons, and righting the wrongs associated with anatomical and legacy collections in the United States and beyond

Anatomical collections were instrumental in the development and advancement of medicine, anatomy, and biological anthropology, including the Hamann-Todd, Robert J. Terry, and William Montague Cobb anatomical collections. However, these series were amassed using structurally violent anatomical legislation that targeted the unclaimed poor and marginalized for nonconsensual dissection. This presentation will examine the history and composition of these collections. Emphasis will be placed on the role that social apathy played at the societal and legislative levels in the dissection, curation, and silencing of the individuals that comprise these collections. Complicating this are very real ethical dilemmas associated with these series and the individuals that comprise them. Focus will be placed on how to restore the silenced identities of these persons, reveal their narratives, and ethically engage with these anatomical (and other legacy) collections, in a manner that provides restorative justice to the individuals within these series.

About the Speaker

Carlina de la Cova is a bioarchaeologist and Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Carolina. Her research examines the biological impact of inequality, marginalization, institutionalization, and the Great Migration in 19th and early 20th-century America. de la Cova’s recent work focuses on ethics and ethical reform in biological anthropology.

Zoom details: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/JzSDYIxOTuGFFAnTzFq3sw

Presented as part of the School of Archaeology and Anthropology's 2025 Biological Anthropology Research (BAR) Seminar series