Racial Skull and Brain Collection

The More We Uncover Series – America’s Troubling Past with Racially Motivated Research

When we think of racism in American history, images of slavery or segregation often come to mind. Yet, deeply buried in the archives of museums and universities lies another, more insidious chapter—where human skulls and brains from marginalized communities were appropriated, measured, displayed, and preserved—all under the guise of science. Yup—science!

Samuel George Morton: Craniometry and the Illusion of Racial Hierarchy

In the early 19th century, Philadelphia physician Samuel George Morton amassed over 1,000 human skulls, including those of Indigenous and enslaved Black individuals, aiming to measure cranial capacity and claim that white Europeans possessed the largest—and hence most intelligent—brains.

His widely published volume “Crania Americana” featured lithographic illustrations of skulls—used to visually reinforce racial differences. Critics like Stephen Jay Gould later argued that Morton manipulated data to suit racial biases, although reanalyzes suggest his measurements were largely accurate but interpreted through a biased lens.

Phrenology: Display as Dehumanization

During Morton’s era, the pseudoscience of phrenology flourished—claiming that skull shape dictated character. Organizations like the Boston Phrenological Society and publishers such as Fowler & Wells showcased skulls and casts in public cabinets to propagate racial stereotypes. These remains often belonged to indigenous people and enslaved individuals, stripped of identity and dignity.

The Smithsonian’s Racial Brain Collection: Science in Service of Racism

Fast-forward to the early 20th century at the Smithsonian Institution, physical anthropologist Ales Hrdlička orchestrated a “racial brain collection,” gathering more than 200 human brains—mostly from Black, Indigenous, and Asian individuals, many taken without consent.

One striking archival image shows the institutional carelessness, detailed instructions from a 1904 Smithsonian manual about how to package a brain for shipment, and obscure autopsy marks—a chilling testament to dehumanizing scientific protocol.

While some remains have been returned to families and communities, many still reside in museum storage Axios.

Reckoning and Restitution: Penn Museum’s Pushback

Only recently has this legacy begun to be challenged. In 2024, the Penn Museum reburied 19 Black Philadelphians whose skulls had been part of the Morton collection—an event meant to serve as restitution, but criticized for lacking community engagement.

Further healing came in June 2025 when the Penn museum unveiled a memorial plaque honoring those whose remains were collected without consent—a gesture toward acknowledgment and restoration.

Why It Matters Today

This history is not just academic—it reminds us how science can be weaponized to justify oppression; lest not forget the Tuskegee Syphilis Studys, and cruel ass, J. Marion Sims’ Gynecological experiments of enslaved women in the 1840s, without the use of antiseptics or anesthesia. The legacy of these collections, studies and experiments casts a long shadow, shaping distrust in scientific and medical institutions, particularly within marginalized communities.

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References

Axios. (2023, December 15). Smithsonian “bone doctor” targeted D.C.’s Black communities.

Axios. Gould, S. J. (1981). The mismeasure of man. New York, NY: W.W. Norton. New Yorker. (2023).

How Lonnie G. Bunch III is renovating the “Nation’s Attic”. The New Yorker. Penn Museum. (2025, June 20).

Morton Cranial Collection. Retrieved from Penn Museum website. Stolen and disrespected: Museum inters 200-year-old remains of Black Philadelphians. (2024, February 4).

The Guardian. Washington Post. (2023, August 14). Systemic review: Smithsonian’s human remains and racial brain collection.

The Washington Post. Pennsylvania Today. (2018, October 4).

A new take on the 19th-century skull collection of Samuel Morton. Wikipedia. (n.d.). Samuel George Morton. Wikipedia. (n.d.). Scientific racism.