“Mummies of the Insane” Galvanizes National Coalition of
People with Psychiatric Histories
WASHINGTON, D.C. (7/17/08) – A national coalition of people who have
psychiatric histories is demanding an end to the “sideshow” exhibition of two
mummified female cadavers, whose bodies were sold in 1888 by the West Virginia
Hospital for the Insane to an amateur scientist. The women’s corpses are on
display in glass-topped coffins in the bathroom of the Barbour County Historical
Museum in Philippi, W. Va., at a dollar a look.
“We are shocked and appalled at this barbaric exhibition and demand that the
bodies of these women be given a proper burial,” said Lauren Spiro, director of
public policy for the National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor
Organizations. “In 1989, the Smithsonian Institution agreed to return the
skeletons of thousands of Native Americans to their tribes for burial. We demand
that these women be allowed the same dignity.”
In 1888, the bodies of the two women were sold by the state hospital to
Graham Hamrick for a macabre experiment: he wanted to recreate the mummification
techniques employed by ancient Egyptians. According to a report on the Roadside
America Web site www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2930, the Smithsonian
Institution offered to exhibit the mummified cadavers if Hamrick would share his
formula with them, but he refused. After Hamrick’s death, P.T. Barnum took the
cadavers on tour to Europe for several years. After decades during which they
experienced additional indignities, they ended up at the museum, where they are
still on display.
“Children are also being exposed to this,” said Spiro; “the Washington Post
uses the exhibit as an example in an online curriculum for kids, calling it
‘just another of America’s roadside attractions.’
http://www.washpost.com/nielessonplans.nsf/0/5F45C0443478A04C85256ACC005C257E/$File/colortest3.pdf
This heartless exhibit is another example of the callous treatment of people who
are labeled with mental illnesses.”
The National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations works
to ensure that people diagnosed with mental illnesses have a major voice in the
development and implementation of health care, mental health, and social
policies at the state and national levels, empowering people to recover and lead
a full life in the community. The coalition currently consists of statewide
organizations run by people with psychiatric histories in 32 states, including
the District of Columbia, as well as the three federally funded consumer-run
national technical assistance centers. | 