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This page includes information that may not reflect the current views and values of the Penn Museum. Updates on the Museum’s work towards the repatriation and burial of the Morton Collection can be found here.
The Morton Cranial Collection has facilitated various forms of public engagement in recent years, ranging from its use in classroom settings, to exhibitions, and scholarly public symposia.
The Morton Cranial Collection has been and continues to be used in many Philadelphia area university undergraduate and graduate courses. It has also been used for independent studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Rutgers University, University of Delaware, Bryn Mawr College, Widener University, University of the Arts, and Temple University. From 2004 to 2018, 42 college students (18 graduate and 24 undergraduate) have used the collection in their research.
For example, see:
One of the profiles within the exhibition, “Imagine Strength,” focuses on the stories of a series of enslaved peoples in the Morton Collection.
https://www.penn.museum/sites/imagineafrica/Sponsored by the Departments of History and Sociology of Science and Philosophy, the Penn Museum, the History and Philosophy of Science Working Group.
“From Skulls to Scans: How Brain Measurements Have Been Used, Misused, and Misunderstood in the Study of Racial Differences” October 4, 2012 https://penncurrent.upenn.edu/2012-09-27/latest-news/mini-symposium-explores-bias-brains-and-race/Sponsored by the Penn Center for Neuroscience and Society and the Penn Museum
The Penn Museum Public Classroom – “Science and Race: History, Use, and Abuse” 5 sessions. Fall 2016.https://www.penn.museum/programs/adult-programs/public-classroom