Skulls of Alleged Enslaved Black Americans Returned to New Orleans

Skulls of alleged enslaved Black Americans once used in racist 19th-century pseudoscientific research have been returned to New Orleans for a public memorial and burial ceremony. The remains were part of a collection amassed by Harvard professor Louis Agassiz and later housed at the university. The repatriation follows years of activism and reflection on academic institutions’ roles in slavery and exploitation. Dillard University President Monique Guillory described the memorial as a moment to honor those stripped of identity and humanity, emphasizing that these individuals were “not specimens” but people with names, families, and legacies. The ceremony was attended by community leaders, descendants, and activists. Harvard has faced mounting calls to return human remains in its possession and confront its ties to slavery. This act of remembrance represents a broader movement for ethical reckoning in academia and museums, particularly in how institutions handle the legacy of colonial and racial injustice.

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Source: BET

Image Source: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons