They were among 19 Black patients who died at one New Orleans hospital in the 1870s, and whose heads were removed by a doctor to be sent to Germany.
The skulls of those 19 patients have now been repatriated to Louisiana after more than a century abroad.
On Saturday, they were honored in a multi-faith memorial and laid to rest in a jazz funeral rooted in New Orleans tradition.
At Saturday’s memorial, a group of Dillard students read from those biographies, ending with their return journey: “Another voyage across the Atlantic, passing bones of enslaved Africans on the ocean floor,” the students’ account went.
“From Africa, to the Caribbean, to the United Sates of America; from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Leipzig, Germany; from Leipzig, Germany to New Orleans, Louisiana — justice carries 19 men and women home.
Malnutrition claimed the life of Marie Louise, a lifelong New Orleanian. After being admitted to the hospital at the age of 21 due to a fatal case of pneumonia, Hiram Malone traveled from Alabama to Louisiana. Cook Samuel Prince, age 40, passed away from tuberculosis.
A doctor removed the heads of 19 Black patients who died at a hospital in New Orleans in the 1870s and sent them to Germany. There, the crania were examined as “specimens” in phrenology, a pseudoscience that was then becoming increasingly popular. Some physicians theorized that one race was superior to another based on alleged correlations between a person’s size or shape of skull and their morality or intelligence.
After being overseas for over a century, the skulls of those 19 patients have now been returned to Louisiana. They were remembered on Saturday with a multifaith memorial and buried with a jazz funeral that was based on a New Orleans custom.
“We are unable to pinpoint their exact origin. Here they are, then. Eva Baham, a Dillard University historian who served as the chair of the cultural repatriation committee, asked during Saturday’s service, “And what are we to make of what happened to them?”. “You are capable of anger. You have good reason to be upset. We can’t stay there, though. “,”.
When the University of Leipzig contacted the city archeologist in New Orleans in 2023, they acknowledged that the skulls had been obtained in a “colonial context and unethically” and returned the remains. State, local, and educational institutions were all involved in the two-year return process. A significant international restitution resulted from it, with African American remains returned from Europe. Many of these remains are still in archival collections throughout the United States. S. . and overseas, at academic institutions and museums.
Before arriving at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, researchers believe that many of the 19 individuals had been enslaved, had subsequently migrated freely following the Civil War, and had either institutionalized in asylums or fallen ill. Serving the impoverished residents of the city for centuries, it was one of the oldest hospitals in the country before closing in 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina damage. Baham’s team was able to reconstruct certain biographical moments of the 13 men and four women with the aid of hospital death records. There are two unidentified people.
These biographies were read by a group of Dillard students at Saturday’s memorial, concluding with their journey back.
The students described it as “another voyage across the Atlantic, passing bones of enslaved Africans on the ocean floor.”. Justice carries 19 men and women home from Africa, the Caribbean, the United States, Leipzig, Germany, and New Orleans, Louisiana to New Orleans, Louisiana. May they be able to move freely, honorably, and with dignity in the city of God. “.
The ceremony on Saturday featured prayers from ten religious leaders representing various faiths, and the attendees were led out of the chapel by an African drum and dance performance. The skulls were placed in memorial vessels for interment by handlers wearing white gloves. And the procession was accompanied by a jazz band.
At the memorial, Baham stated, “These people’s lives had meaning,” continuing, “History is not to wind about or wallow in.”. It is for future development. It is to proceed. Additionally, we are starting over every day when we conceal our past. “,”.
