Latest news with #UniversityofLeipzig
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Black Americans being used as guinea pigs involved universities
In 1871, Henry D. Schmidt, a New Orleans doctor, 'gifted' the crania of 19 formerly enslaved African American and mixed-race individuals to Dr. Emil Ludwig Schmidt at the University of Leipzig to study the racist hypothesis that a person's morality or intelligence could be determined by crevices and bumps of their skull. A century and a half later, in a presumed act of higher consciousness, the German university no longer felt the need to house the ill-gotten skulls and, on Saturday, the remains of those 19 disregarded souls were given a proper burial in New Orleans. Saturday's event at Dillard University took place on the same week that Harvard University announced that it is relinquishing what are believed to be among the earliest photos of enslaved people in the United States. The 1850 images of a father and daughter known as Renty and Delia, who were photographed naked to the waist, were commissioned by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz to support the theory of polygenism, the idea that human races evolved separately. Harvard would probably still be clutching those photos if Tamara Lanier, an author who says she's a descendant of the father and daughter pictured, hadn't fought a 15-year legal battle with the university. But the photos won't come to her. Renty and Delia's images will now be placed at the International African American Museum in South Carolina, the state where they were enslaved. As I sat through the three-hour service, which included a city acknowledgement by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, musical tributes and a riveting performance from Dillard University's Theatre Ensemble personifying the 19 human beings we were paying homage to, I couldn't help but think about the history of Black Americans being the guinea pigs for experimentation or examination or the subject of incomplete theories, under the guise of scientific advancement. Or the irony of racist individuals using 'inferior' Black specimens to interrogate complex ideas about human physiology, and still arriving at racist conclusions even with evidence in their possession that contradicts their hypotheses. We live in a moment where there is a persistent effort to erase all knowledge of these atrocities and pretend as if they were just figments of Black folks' imagination. But Eva Baham, who chaired the Cultural Repatriation Committee that brought the remains of the 19 New Orleanians home, said during Saturday's service that the purpose of studying history is 'to move forward. And when we keep our past hidden, we are starting over every day.' The memorial service for Adam Grant, Isaak Bell, Hiram Smith, William Pierson, Henry Williams, John Brown, Hiram Malone, William Roberts, Alice Brown, Prescilla Hatchet, Marie Louise, Mahala, Samuel Prince, John Tolman, Henry Allen, Moses Willis, Henry Anderson and two other unidentified souls was unlike any other I have witnessed. The decedents had transitioned over a century and a half ago; however, their departure from this realm could not have been considered peaceful before this weekend's ceremony. Roughly 200 community members filled the sanctuary of Dillard's Lawless Memorial Chapel to pay their respects to these ancestors who were so horribly disrespected after they died. 'It was emotionally draining because you're trying your best to make some connections and to search and find [that] there's hope,' Freddi Williams Evans, a member of the Cultural Repatriation Committee, told me. 'We could not verify any descendants. And so we have to step in and be their family.' Harvard is letting go not just of the photos of Renty and Delia, but also images of enslaved people known as Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack and Jem. Lanier, who says she's the great-great-great-granddaughter of 'Papa Renty,' said of the settlement with Harvard, 'This pilfered property, images taken without dignity or consent and used to promote a racist psychoscience will now be repatriated to a home where their stories can be told and their humanity can be restored.' As she spoke Wednesday she locked arms with Susanna Moore, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Agassiz, the Harvard biologist. Moore rightly called the work her forefather was doing with the photos 'a deeply racist project.' The combination of Harvard relinquishing its photos and Dillard receiving the remains of those wrongly shipped to a lab overseas means that even in 2025, we are still unpacking just how much dehumanization defined slavery and its aftermath in the United States. Dillard University President Monique Guillory told me it was important to honor the 19 in New Orleans because 'They walked the streets of New Orleans like we do.' Saturday's ceremony ended with African drumming and dancing, and then attendees were led out of the chapel by a jazz band and a traditional New Orleans second line en route to bury the remains of a tormented people, the right way. This article was originally published on
Time of India
4 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research (AP) NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century. On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service including a jazz funeral, one of the city's most distinct traditions, paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. "We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of their bodies," said Monique Guillory, president of Dillard University, a historically Black private liberal arts college, which spearheaded the receipt of the remains on behalf of the city. "This is actually an opportunity for us to recognize and commemorate the humanity of all of these individuals who would have been denied, you know, such a respectful send-off and final burial. " The 19 people are all believed to have passed away from natural causes between 1871 and 1872 at Charity Hospital, which served people of all races and classes in New Orleans during the height of white supremacist oppression in the 1800s. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo The hospital shuttered following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The remains sat in 19 wooden boxes in the university's chapel during a service Saturday that also included music from the Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective. A New Orleans physician provided the skulls of the 19 people to a German researcher engaged phrenological studies - the debunked belief that a person's skull could determine innate racial characteristics. "All kinds of experiments were done on Black bodies living and dead," said Dr. Eva Baham, a historian who led Dillard University's efforts to repatriate the individuals' remains. "People who had no agency over themselves." In 2023, the University of Leipzig in Germany reached out to the City of New Orleans to find a way to return the remains, Guillory said. The University of Leipzig did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "It is a demonstration of our own morality here in New Orleans and in Leipzig with the professors there who wanted to do something to restore the dignity of these people," Baham said. Dillard University researchers say more digging remains to be done, including to try and track down possible descendants. They believe it is likely that some of the people had been recently freed from slavery. "These were really poor, indigent people in the end of the 19th century, but ... they had names, they had addresses, they walked the streets of the city that we love," Guillory said. "We all deserve a recognition of our humanity and the value of our lives."
NBC News
4 days ago
- Health
- NBC News
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century. On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service including a jazz funeral, one of the city's most distinct traditions, paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. "We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of their bodies," said Monique Guillory, president of Dillard University, a historically Black private liberal arts college, which spearheaded the receipt of the remains on behalf of the city. "This is actually an opportunity for us to recognize and commemorate the humanity of all of these individuals who would have been denied, you know, such a respectful send-off and final burial." The 19 people are all believed to have passed away from natural causes between 1871 and 1872 at Charity Hospital, which served people of all races and classes in New Orleans during the height of white supremacist oppression in the 1800s. The hospital shuttered following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The remains sat in 19 wooden boxes in the university's chapel during a service Saturday that also included music from the Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective. A New Orleans physician provided the skulls of the 19 people to a German researcher engaged phrenological studies — the debunked belief that a person's skull could determine innate racial characteristics. "All kinds of experiments were done on Black bodies living and dead," said Eva Baham, a historian who led Dillard University's efforts to repatriate the individuals' remains. "People who had no agency over themselves." In 2023, the University of Leipzig in Germany reached out to the City of New Orleans to find a way to return the remains, Guillory said. The University of Leipzig did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "It is a demonstration of our own morality here in New Orleans and in Leipzig with the professors there who wanted to do something to restore the dignity of these people," Baham said. Dillard University researchers say more digging remains to be done, including to try and track down possible descendants. They believe it is likely that some of the people had been recently freed from slavery. "These were really poor, indigent people in the end of the 19th century, but ... they had names, they had addresses, they walked the streets of the city that we love," Guillory said. "We all deserve a recognition of our humanity and the value of our lives."
4 days ago
- Health
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research
NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century. On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service including a jazz funeral, one of the city's most distinct traditions, paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. 'We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of their bodies,' said Monique Guillory, president of Dillard University, a historically Black private liberal arts college, which spearheaded the receipt of the remains on behalf of the city. 'This is actually an opportunity for us to recognize and commemorate the humanity of all of these individuals who would have been denied, you know, such a respectful send-off and final burial.' The 19 people are all believed to have passed away from natural causes between 1871 and 1872 at Charity Hospital, which served people of all races and classes in New Orleans during the height of white supremacist oppression in the 1800s. The hospital shuttered following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The remains sat in 19 wooden boxes in the university's chapel during a service Saturday that also included music from the Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective. A New Orleans physician provided the skulls of the 19 people to a German researcher engaged phrenological studies — the debunked belief that a person's skull could determine innate racial characteristics. 'All kinds of experiments were done on Black bodies living and dead,' said Dr. Eva Baham, a historian who led Dillard University's efforts to repatriate the individuals' remains. 'People who had no agency over themselves.' In 2023, the University of Leipzig in Germany reached out to the City of New Orleans to find a way to return the remains, Guillory said. The University of Leipzig did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'It is a demonstration of our own morality here in New Orleans and in Leipzig with the professors there who wanted to do something to restore the dignity of these people,' Baham said. Dillard University researchers say more digging remains to be done, including to try and track down possible descendants. They believe it is likely that some of the people had been recently freed from slavery. 'These were really poor, indigent people in the end of the 19th century, but ... they had names, they had addresses, they walked the streets of the city that we love," Guillory said. 'We all deserve a recognition of our humanity and the value of our lives.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century. On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service including a jazz funeral, one of the city's most distinct traditions, paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. 'We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of their bodies,' said Monique Guillory, president of Dillard University, a historically Black private liberal arts college, which spearheaded the receipt of the remains on behalf of the city. 'This is actually an opportunity for us to recognize and commemorate the humanity of all of these individuals who would have been denied, you know, such a respectful send-off and final burial.' The 19 people are all believed to have passed away from natural causes between 1871 and 1872 at Charity Hospital, which served people of all races and classes in New Orleans during the height of white supremacist oppression in the 1800s. The hospital shuttered following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The remains sat in 19 wooden boxes in the university's chapel during a service Saturday that also included music from the Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective. A New Orleans physician provided the skulls of the 19 people to a German researcher engaged phrenological studies — the debunked belief that a person's skull could determine innate racial characteristics. 'All kinds of experiments were done on Black bodies living and dead,' said Dr. Eva Baham, a historian who led Dillard University's efforts to repatriate the individuals' remains. 'People who had no agency over themselves.' In 2023, the University of Leipzig in Germany reached out to the City of New Orleans to find a way to return the remains, Guillory said. The University of Leipzig did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'It is a demonstration of our own morality here in New Orleans and in Leipzig with the professors there who wanted to do something to restore the dignity of these people,' Baham said. Dillard University researchers say more digging remains to be done, including to try and track down possible descendants. They believe it is likely that some of the people had been recently freed from slavery. 'These were really poor, indigent people in the end of the 19th century, but ... they had names, they had addresses, they walked the streets of the city that we love," Guillory said. 'We all deserve a recognition of our humanity and the value of our lives.'
