Amid growing controversy, museums are grappling with collections from the colonial era – and one issue in particular. What should they do with human remains?
The Mütter has long been known as "disturbingly informative" and uniquely Philadelphian. Now its new leaders want it to be about health, not death and supporters are fighting for its life.
I have a soft spot for specimen jars and skeletal remains. Museums of natural history, surgical pioneering or anthropological oddities have always struck me as equally suitable for lunch breaks and first dates as for serious study and research. As far as public and casually accessible encounters with mortality go, these kinds of museums are