Towards a Respectful Resolution
Last updated December 2024
(Content Warning: contains discussion of human remains.)
Open today 10 am – 5 pm
Last updated December 2024
(Content Warning: contains discussion of human remains.)
In 2021, as all known remains from the 1985 MOVE tragedy were returned to the Africa family, the Penn Museum apologized to our community and committed to a rigorous reassessment of institutional practices. This included a comprehensive inventory of our Biological Anthropology Section, and a promise to investigate any new information that emerged.
In 2024, this work has led to uncovering another set of MOVE remains, and this information was immediately communicated to the Africa family.
Confronting our institutional history requires ever-evolving examination of how we can uphold museum practices to the highest ethical standards. Centering human dignity and the wishes of descendant communities govern the current treatment of human remains in the Penn Museum's care.
Updates will continue to be shared on this page.
In 1986, the City of Philadelphia’s Medical Examiner’s Office approached forensic anthropologists at the Penn Museum to help in the identification of bone fragments from the 1985 MOVE bombing.
In 2021, all known MOVE remains were returned to the Africa family as soon as we learned they were at the Museum. We apologized to the family and our community for the unethical possession of these remains and committed to a rigorous reassessment of institutional practices.
Since then, we’ve maintained communication with the Africa family mothers and promised to investigate with full transparency reported information about additional MOVE remains at the Museum.
As soon as the ongoing and rigorous inventory of our Biological Anthropology Section uncovered another set of MOVE remains, the information was shared with the Africa family mothers.
When all known MOVE remains were returned to the Africa family in 2021, we had promised the family and our community to investigate reported information about additional MOVE remains at the Museum.
Since that time, we have updated our Human Remains Policy, expanded Collections staff, and continue the ongoing work of re-housing our Biological Anthropology Section in upgraded and secured storerooms.
The human remains that match existing documentation for that of Delisha Africa were identified during the course of that ongoing inventory work and rigorous provenance research.
This information was immediately conveyed to the Africa family mothers.
The Museum’s Williams Director is in contact with the Africa family.
As soon as we learn more about the family’s wishes, we will share them with the public as we have done on this page.
Under our updated Human Remains Policy, no non-Penn Museum human remains will enter the Museum, even temporarily, without approval of the Human Remains Committee, the Director of Collections, Conservation, the Registrar’s Office, the NAGPRA Committee as needed, and the Williams Director.
Centering human dignity and the wishes of descendant communities govern the current treatment of all human remains in the Museum’s care.
Reuniting the human remains from the 1985 MOVE tragedy with the Africa Family was a priority, upon learning they were at the Penn Museum. After consultation with Consuewella, Janine, Janet, and Sue Africa, any known MOVE remains were placed in the care of a West Philadelphia funeral home in April 2021, and were received by the Africa Family on July 2, 2021.
As we uphold the ethical stewardship of human remains and prioritize human dignity, our ongoing work towards a respectful resolution includes following through on recommendations by the Tucker Law Group’s, which was publicly released on August 25, 2021:
On June 9, 2022, the City of Philadelphia, whose Medical Examiner Office (MEO) hired a Penn anthropologist in 1986 to identify MOVE remains labeled "B-1," released a report on its year-long investigation. In its report and for the first time, the City identified photographs presumably taken in 1986 of "Body G," the identifier used by the MEO to reference a second set of bone fragments believed to belong to Delisha Africa. Upon receiving these photographs, the University of Pennsylvania requested that the Tucker Law Group reassess whether film studies purporting to be of B-1 taken at the Museum in 2018 were consistent with B-1 remains in possession of the MEO.
On September 16, 2022, the Tucker Law Group released its supplementary report stating that an independent expert has determined the X-rays taken at the Museum in 2018 are not of the same person identified by the City as "Body G." Tucker Law Group also reaffirmed its conclusion that the remains of "Body G" were not in the possession of the Museum.
As of November 12, 2024, an ongoing comprehensive inventory of our biological anthropology section has led to uncovering another set of human remains that match records for those of Delisha Africa. This information has been communicated to the Africa family.
As we promised the Africa Family and our community in 2021, we have acted with speed and transparency in returning the remains, and we will continue to do so with all human remains in our care.
We are committed to full transparency with respect to any new evidence that may emerge.
We have fully cooperated with all investigations, and our goal has always been to learn the facts, do what’s right, and take steps towards repair.
On August 25, 2021, the University and the Museum released the findings of an independent investigative report on the handling of the partial remains, authored by The Tucker Law Group (TLG).
The TLG report relied on interviews with more than 40 people, including members of MOVE; current and former Museum employees; Penn faculty, students, and alumni; elected officials; anthropologists; and community members. In addition, TLG reviewed archival records, the 1986 MOVE Commission Report, the 1988 MOVE Grand Jury Report, records from the Philadelphia Police Department and the City Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO), codes of ethics from multiple professional organizations, and the laws in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey regarding the treatment of human remains.
On September 8, the report was updated to correct a reference cited on pages 39 and 66: “Society of Forensic Anthropologists (SOFA)” was replaced with “American Board of Forensic Anthropology (“ABFA”).”
Read the full TLG reportKey findings include:
Recommendations include:
The University and Museum are reviewing the rest of the recommendations to find ways to incorporate them into new or existing University programs. These recommendations include:
We will continue to update this page.
April 28, 2021
From Wendell Pritchett, Provost
and
Christopher Woods, Ph.D., Williams Director
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The Penn Museum and the University of Pennsylvania apologize to the Africa family and the members of our community for allowing human remains recovered from the MOVE house to be used for research and teaching, and for retaining the remains for far too long.
The Africa family and our community have experienced profound emotional distress as a result of the news that human remains from the horrific 1985 bombing of the MOVE house were at the Penn Museum and this fact has urgently raised serious questions: Why were the remains at the Museum in the first place? Why were they used for teaching purposes? And, most importantly, what are we going to do to resolve this situation?
In 1985, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office asked Penn physical anthropologists to assist with the efforts to identify some of the remains from the MOVE house. It is common for physical anthropologists to assist in forensic cases where individual identity is uncertain, and over the years our experts revisited this question, driven by new science and technology. But despite these efforts, we, unfortunately, are still unable to provide conclusive confirmation of identity.
Chris Woods personally learned on April 16 that these remains were in our Museum and that they had been used in a forensic anthropology class, having assumed his role as director on April 1. The important topic of returning human remains to descendants was very much on the minds of Museum staff as there had just been a public announcement of plans regarding the Morton Cranial Collection, and the issue of the MOVE victim’s remains was raised in this context. In the April 12 announcement of the plans for the Morton Collection, we vowed to work with local communities to learn their wishes and to return individuals to their ancestors, wherever possible, as a step toward atonement and repair for the racist and colonial practices that were integral to the formation of these collections.
While the remains recovered from the MOVE house were not part of the Museum collection, it could not be clearer that this same standard should be applied here as well—these remains should be returned to the Africa family as soon as possible. The research of our physical anthropologists was done in the interests of serving our community, but by any measure 36 years is far too long to have waited.
We understand the importance of reuniting these remains with the family. This is our goal. And we are committed to a respectful, consultative resolution.
For many, one of the most traumatic parts of this narrative is that some of these remains were used in a forensic anthropology class that was offered by Princeton University and taught by a member of the Penn Museum staff. This course has now been suspended.
Classes in forensic science require human remains to teach the next generation of forensic specialists. However, it is an ethical imperative to show the utmost respect to family survivors. Informed consent must be given by the person before death or by the family afterwards. Regretfully, this did not happen in this case—and it was a serious error in judgment to use these remains in a class of any kind, especially given the extreme emotional distress in our community surrounding the 1985 bombing of the MOVE house. Unquestionably, the decision to use the remains in this way has torn at old wounds that our city and community have long sought to heal.
The Museum has promised to reassess our practices of collecting, stewarding, displaying, and researching human remains, and we are committed to this promise. It is now obvious, however, that this reassessment must also include how human remains are used in teaching as well as a comprehensive review of the holdings and collection practices of our Physical Anthropology section.
As part of this review, the University of Pennsylvania has hired attorneys Joe Tucker and Carl Singley of the Tucker Law Group to investigate how the remains came into the possession of the Museum and what transpired with them for nearly four decades. This report will be shared with the community and its findings used to help us ensure that nothing of this nature is repeated in the future.
We must constantly bear in mind the fact that human remains were once living people, and we must always strive to treat them with the dignity and respect that they deserve.