Student Reports
During the Fall 2022 semester, students focused on Penn’s history of grave-robbing and body snatching. Affiliates of the Medical College of Philadelphia often stole the bodies of marginalized communities to support their studies of anatomy and racial science.
Joseph Anderson Student Report
Creating, Keeping, and Losing Black Spaces: Lebanon and Olive Cemeteries in 19th Century Philadelphia
Joseph Anderson’s report examines the history of private Black cemeteries in Philadelphia. The Black community’s demand for protection from grave-robbing by medical schools such as Penn’s led to the creation of the for-profit cemeteries.
Lindsey Randall Student Report
Dr. William Shippen Jr.: Medicine and Grave-Robbing in 18th Century Philadelphia
Lindsey Randall’s report details the grave-robbing of Black bodies to procure anatomical specimens by prominent Penn Professors such as William Shippen Jr., as well as the Black community’s resistance and protests against this violence.
Hyunwoo Song Student Report
The Medical School of Pennsylvania graduates and their impact on the medical field and American society, (1768 -1774)
Hyunwoo Song’s report tracks the lives of a total of 28 medical school graduates, who were taught under William Shippen Jr. These graduates variously went on to have medical careers, become involved in politics, start their own medical societies, or profit off of slavery.
Zhangyang Xie Student Report
William Pepper Jr. and the Pepper-Hearst Expedition
Zhangyang Xie’s report highlights the institutional support by the Penn Museum for the Pepper-Hearst expedition, which excavated Native American remains in Florida to support racial arguments about indigenous inferiority.
Penn & Slavery Project 