Smithsonian archives hold over 200 brains most removed from Black, Indigenous, and other people of color

Alex Hrdlicka, Curator of the National Museum (today Museum of Natural History), 1903-1941, directed the gathering of this collection to further his personal view that white people were superior.

Alex Hrdlicka, Curator of physical anthropology at the National Museum, 1903 - 1941

During Hrdlicka’s tenure, he oversaw the acquisition of thousands of other body parts, almost all taken without consent. Hrdlicka sought to find scientific evidence of white superiority.

The brains are part of a collection of over 30,000 human body parts still held by the Smithsonian, but long hidden from view in its Archives.

As extensively reported August 14, 2023, by the Washington Post, "The remains are the unreconciled legacy of a grisly practice in which bodies and organs were taken from graveyards, battlefields, morgues and hospitals in more than 80 countries. The decades-long effort was financed and encouraged by the taxpayer-subsidized institution."

For other coverage, an excellent YouTube video details how the investigation began when a Filipino activist was looking for the remains of her people who had died at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair where they were put on exhibition.

Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian

Imagine being the esteemed Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch, named in 2019 as the first African American Secretary of the Smithsonian, and who is former founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. And you learn two months ago of The Washington Post's research.

He states in response in his August 20, 2023 Post Opinion piece: this "... is certainly illustrative of the Smithsonian’s darkest history. This is our inheritance, and we accept the responsibility to address these wrongs to the fullest extent possible."

"As Secretary of the Smithsonian, I condemn these past actions and apologize for the pain caused by Hrdlicka and others at the institution who acted unethically in the name of science...."

"I recognize, too, that the Smithsonian is responsible both for the original work of Hrdlicka and others who subscribed to his beliefs, and for the failure to return the remains he collected to descendant communities in the decades since."

He continued, noting that efforts were underway to repatriate human remains in the collections and that they would be accelerated. "To date, we have focused on the repatriation of Native American remains to comply with federal law, but earlier this year, the Smithsonian established its Human Remains Task Force to develop an institutional policy that addresses the future of all human remains still held in our collections."

The report has been an eye-opener for me ...

despite all the research I've done into Smithsonian history and cultural anthropology for my books.

I had even visited the Archives site in Maryland when I was researching the Herbert Ward exhibit, which is central to my character Estela's early experience at the Smithsonian. Love on the Mall actually takes place at a time when Hrdlicka was there, but all I gathered was that generally there were views of white supremacy in the higher ranks. Her anthropology director viewed the artistic sculptures of Ward to be what deserved attention (statue of Distress uncrated for me and shown), not the tools and weapons of the "savages" he had lived among.

Now I realize that the brains and body parts investigated this year were in a neighboring building.