Major
Anthropology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2025
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
This research examines a 19th-century skeletal collection (Rush Medical College Collection) housed at the Field Museum of Natural History to explore whether the original documents designating the recorded “race” of each individual can be corroborated using a modern statistical program (FORDISC 3.1), since how museum workers would have known the ‘race’ of the individuals cannot be determined. The Rush Medical College Collection reflects society’s attitudes towards our nation's most vulnerable individuals, even after death. This research allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the potential effects of marginalization and disenfranchisement in 19th-century Chicago.
Community Partners
The Field Museum
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Anne L. Grauer
Supported By
CURA Scholars Funder, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Remnants of Identity: Tracing Ancestry in the 19th-Century Rush Medical College Anatomical Collection
This research examines a 19th-century skeletal collection (Rush Medical College Collection) housed at the Field Museum of Natural History to explore whether the original documents designating the recorded “race” of each individual can be corroborated using a modern statistical program (FORDISC 3.1), since how museum workers would have known the ‘race’ of the individuals cannot be determined. The Rush Medical College Collection reflects society’s attitudes towards our nation's most vulnerable individuals, even after death. This research allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the potential effects of marginalization and disenfranchisement in 19th-century Chicago.