The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, a medical history institution that has faced controversy over its handling of human remains, announced a new policy on August 19 for exhibiting its collection. The policy shifts focus toward the lives of patients and changes in medical history, developed through the two-year Postmortem Project involving focus groups and public meetings. The announcement follows backlash after former executive director Kate Quinn removed online exhibits in June 2023 as part of an ethical review, and subsequent staff departures.
This matters because the Mütter Museum's new approach addresses a broader debate among US museums about the ethical display of human remains, especially after a ProPublica investigation revealed that an estimated 100,000 Indigenous remains were still held by institutions decades after a federal repatriation law. The policy aims to balance respect for the individuals whose remains are held with the museum's educational mission, potentially setting a precedent for other medical and anthropological museums grappling with similar issues.