How Penn Museum’s February 3 Burial Plan Ignores Decades of Museum and Archaeological Best Practice

Penn Museum’s plan to bury “20 Black Philadelphians” on February 3, 2024, is cleverly and cynically framed by a fundamental misuse of existing practices developed not by museums, but by the communities who have been impacted by museum theft and hoarding of their ancestors. I can’t say if this misuse is due to misunderstanding — despite the offers of the leaders in the field to help them understand, including this powerful 2021 panel discussion in which Penn Museum Director (and expert in ancient Assyria) Chris Woods was offered an amazing education on stage by Black bioanthropologists who are leaders in this work: Michael Blakey, Rachel Watkins, Carlina De La Cova, and Joseph Jones: <a href="https://intersectionist.medium.com/how-penn-museums-february-3-burial-plan-ignores-decades-of-museum-and-archaeological-best-practice-25859a2fb6ce">Read More</a>