The American Museum Of Natural History Will Remove All Human Remains From Display, Vowing Policy Change

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City will remove human remains from its displays and has vowed to make policy changes after recent reports raised concerns about legality and ethics of their acquisition.

Erin Thompson, a professor of art crime at John Jay College of the City University of New York, had investigated the museum’s collection of the remains for a report published by Hyperallergic on October 15.

The removal was announced in a news release before Thompson’s report was published. The bones will be taken out of the museum’s displays over the course of the next eight weeks and the policies will be updated to recognize the importance of returning human remains.

Sean Decatur, the museum’s recently appointed president, said the museum holds the remains of about 12,000 individuals in its collection and there are currently 12 cases displaying them. He called the removal the “right course of action.”

“The museum no longer collects human remains. Non-invasive research on the collection is permitted only after community consultation and consent, and the moratorium on destructive analysis is continuing,” the news release reads. “We commit to the removal of human remains from public display, while continuing to display casts where appropriate to further the museum’s education mission.”

Decatur said discussions about the museum’s collection began before he was appointed in April and he has called the changes just “initial steps” in addressing the problematic remains. The human remains in the collection range from instruments and beads made from human bone to skeletons and mummies.

Thompson said she spent months investigating the museum after receiving an anonymous tip from a staff member and that she was surprised by the lack of publicly available information about the remains.

“They won’t tell you any information about just who these individuals are,” Thompson told NPR. “Where did they come from? How did they get these remains?”

About 26 percent of the remains belong to Native Americans from within the United States with about 1,200 of them housed there by the federal government, Decatur said. Another 2,200 skeletons are managed by the museum’s cultural resources office in accordance with the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which requires the return of such remains to Native American communities.

To date, the museum has returned about 1,000 such remains and another 200 internationally.

Thompson added that museums like the AMNH had collected and used human remains for scientific research rooted in eugenics and racism: “They were looking for physical proof of the superiority of white people and they didn’t find it, but that meant they just kept looking.”

Decatur agreed with Thompson, stating that the museum must acknowledge that “no individual consented to have their remains included in a museum collection” with the small exception of those who bequeathed their bodies to medical schools for continued study.

“Human remains collections were made possible by extreme imbalances of power,” he said. “Moreover, many researchers in the 19th and 20th centuries then used such collections to advance deeply flawed scientific agendas rooted in white supremacy—namely the identification of physical differences that could reinforce models of racial hierarchy.”

Decatur specifically addressed a recent report in The New York TimesThe New York Times, highlighting that some of the remains may have belonged to enslaved African Americans.

“These remains were removed from a burial ground in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan during a city road construction project in 1903–04 and accepted into the collection,” Decatur affirmed.

“Enslavement was a violent, dehumanizing act; removing these remains from their rightful burial place ensured that the denial of basic human dignity would continue even in death. Identifying a restorative, respectful action in consultation with local communities must be part of our commitment.”

Decatur told museum staffers that the remains will further be discussed at an all-staff meeting, which was scheduled for today. It was not immediately clear how the meeting went.

Thompson has since shared a database she created to help people discover whether the remains of their ancestors are in the museum’s collection. She said she has found information for about 10,500 of the remains.

Source: https://news.artnet.com/about/adam-schrader-34468

Sharks, A New American Museum of Natural History Exhibition, Opens December 15

Featuring Dozens of Life-Sized Models Ranging from 33 Feet to 5 Inches Long, New Exhibition Brings Visitors Face to Face with Vast Diversity of Shark Species, From the Ancient Megapredator Megalodon to the Tiny Pocket Shark

Opens to Museum Members on December 10 and to the Public on December 15

People have been fascinated by sharks for as long as we have been exploring the oceans. Fixed in the public imagination as toothy, fearsome predators, sharks are far more fascinating and more complex, than their description in popular culture. Sharks, a new exhibition opening at the American Museum of Natural History this winter, will bring to life the incredible diversity of this ancient group of fishes and will offer visitors a unique look at pre-historic and modern shark species, their habitats and hunting styles, and the conservation threats these magnificent animals are facing today.

The evolutionary history of sharks began nearly 450 million years ago, more than 200 million years before the first dinosaur. Today, there are more than 500 species of sharks and more than 650 species of their close relatives—rays, skates, and chimaeras—inhabiting nearly all of the world’s aquatic environments, from coral reefs to the polar seas, and even freshwater rivers. While the terrifying monster from the movie Jaws is what many might imagine when they think of sharks, today’s scientists are uncovering many surprising facts about this diverse group. Convinced that all sharks are carnivores? (Fact: Recent research shows that bonnethead sharks eat seagrass and can digest plants). Where do great white sharks give birth to their young? (Fact: By tracking females, scientists recently discovered a great white shark nursery off the coast of Long Island, New York). Can shark tourism be more profitable than shark fishing? (Fact: where fishing and ecotourism are regulated, tourism can support shark communities for generations. In fact, a single whale shark has been shown to bring thousands of more dollars as a beacon for tourism than could be earned by killing it). Sharks addresses these exciting questions and reveals more secrets of the ocean’s top predators through life-sized models, touch-free interactives, real fossils, and dynamic media presentations.

Visitors to Sharks will explore the diversity, anatomy, and behavior of sharks and their close relatives through encounters with tiger sharks, great whites, and other familiar favorites along with little-known creatures such as the torpedo ray, the longnose chimaera, and the tiny dwarf lantern shark, which glows in the dark and is small enough to hold in your hand. The exhibition will showcase fossils from the Museum’s extensive collections, current Museum research, and a spectacular “parade” of sharks highlighting the diversity of ancient and modern shark species through 30 lifelike models that range from 33 feet to 5 inches long, including the prehistoric megapredator megalodon, the “Tyrannosaurus rex of the seas,” which was so large it preyed on whales. Other exhibition highlights include an interactive that challenges visitors to hunt like a hammerhead and touch-free media that reveals distinctive shark traits with the wave of a hand. Sharks also delves into the serious conservation issues facing sharks today, including overfishing and habitat destruction, demonstrating that while these amazing animals pose few threats to people, we represent a serious danger to them.

Sharks is curated by John Sparks, curator in the Museum’s Department of Ichthyology in the Division of Vertebrate Zoology, who previously curated Unseen Oceans, which explored the latest ocean science, and Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence, which focused on the diversity of organisms that produce light. He also co-curated Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Species, about organisms with surprising abilities and those that thrive in extreme habitats. Sparks’ recent research explores the role that bioluminescence and biofluorescence play in the diversification of both shallow-reef and deep-sea fishes. His current projects include investigating the evolution and function of bioluminescent signaling systems in ponyfishes (Leiognathidae), lanternfishes (Myctophiformes), and dragonfishes (Stomiiformes), the origins of Madagascar’s freshwater and nearshore marine fishes, and the evolution and function of biofluorescence in marine fishes. Sharks has also drawn on the expertise of John Maisey, curator-in-charge emeritus, fossil fish, Division of Paleontology, whose research focuses on early chondrichthyans and shark evolution.

American Museum of Natural History (amnh.org) The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869, is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses more than 40 permanent exhibition halls, including those in the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and the Hayden Planetarium, as well as galleries for temporary exhibitions. The Museum’s scientists draw on a world-class permanent collection of more than 34 million specimens and artifacts, some of which are billions of years old, and on one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Through its Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Museum grants the Ph.D. degree in Comparative Biology and the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree, the only such freestanding, degree-granting program at any museum in the United States. The Museum’s website, digital videos, and apps for mobile devices bring its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions around the world. Visit amnh.org for more information.

Hours The Museum is open Wednesday-Sunday, 10 am–5:30 pm. The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Admission Museum admission is free to all New York City school and camp groups. New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut residents (with ID) have the option to pay what they wish for General Admission; the reservation must be made online and the transaction must be completed at the Museum ticket counter.

General Admission, which includes admission to all permanent exhibition halls and the Rose Center for Earth and Space but does not include special exhibitions, giant-screen 2D or 3D film, or Space Show, is $23 (adults), $18 (students/seniors), and $13 (children ages 3-12). All prices are subject to change.

Health Protocols The Museum maintains COVID-19 protocols to protect the health and safety of visitors and has taken steps to maintain a safe environment, including requiring facial coverings for visitors ages 2 and up and upgrading ventilation. As of August 25, 2021, in accordance with the New York City vaccination requirement, visitors ages 12 and older must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter the Museum and show proof of vaccination. Personal identification is required for visitors ages 18 and over. Visit amnh.org/plan-your-visit/covid-19-visitors-staff for more information about these and other health and safety protocols.

Public Information
For additional information, the public may call 212-769-5100 or visit the Museum’s website at amnh.org.

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