FROM GRAVEYARD TO CADAVER LAB一GRAVE ROBBING OF AFRICAN AMERICAN BODIES
The rise of medical schools during the late 18th to mid-20th century led to an increased demand for human cadavers across the United States. Obtaining bodies for dissection became an obstacle for several medical schools. A proposed solution一robbing deceased black bodies in the dead of night. Many medical schools hired grave robbers, also known as “body snatchers'', “sack-um-up men”, “Resurrection Men”, and “night doctors”, to meet their demand of cadavers. Moreover, black bodies and those of the poor were predominantly the victims of body-stealing and eventually for the study of human anatomy.
Medical schools began incorporating anatomical dissection as part of teaching medical students about the human body by the 19th century. There was public dissent about human dissection and in most states it was illegal. As grave robbing of black bodies became apparent, many Americans refused to acknowledge the stolen bodies. Amongst black communities in the South, the fear of grave robbers and “night doctors” began to be integrated in their folklore, in which the grave robbers paralleled with the boogey-man who was lurking in the dark.
Black bodies were seen as poor and powerless in society. The graves of black bodies often remained unlabeled and unprotected because their families were unable to afford the costs. Grave robbing of black bodies persisted into the early and mid-20th century, and was practiced in several states such as New York, Georgia, Virgina, and Texas. Some grave robbers were also African American men who worked as custodians or porters for medical colleges and would be told to collect black bodies from nearby cemeteries. Black bodies would also be shipped in barrels that were filled with either turpentine or whiskey to be sent to other medical schools. The practice of grave robbing and the following medical experimentation performed on black bodies intensified feelings of fear amongst black Americans.
Grave robbing was slowly reduced due to the implementation of anatomy acts and the legalization of medical dissection. For example, the Pennsylvania Anatomy Act of 1883 allowed medical schools to use “unclaimed” bodies from hospitals for medical dissection. Moreover in 1968, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) was passed in order to modernize the distribution of cadavers across the United States. Many of the bodies used for dissection and research were usually from the poor and ethnic minorities. Currently, there is no coherent federal oversight or data collection on the ethnic composition of cadavers used in the United States. Medical schools across the nation have implemented anatomical memorial services and are expected to treat the cadavers with compassion and respect.
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Chris Baker with Medical Students at the Medical College of Virginia, 1899-1900, Photograph: Special Collections and Archives, Tompkins- McCaw Library, Virginia Commonwealth University.
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Old Medical College at 598 Telfair Street in March 1934. (Branan Sanders, Historical American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress).
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