The treatment of Civil war solders
Questions:
Its interesting to consider that as historians we tend to study people who are dead, but we typically don’t talk
that much about death, remains and burial a whole lot. What did you think of the book? (this is a broad
question take it how you want)
Morton had these shelves of Skulls from all over North America and indeed all over the world but he really did
not travel a great deal after his initial education. Do you think his sedentary nature possibly contributed to his
ideas? This is not a question with a set answer that I am looking for.
Fabian spends a great deal of time discussing Philadelphia where Morton lived and its Black population, why?
Fabian argues in Chapter two that Americans were trying to figure out who they were by exploring who they
were not. How so?
What is the role of poverty in Morton and indeed most skull collector’s work?
Fabian notes this idea that proper disposition of the dead helped to anchor a people in place and in time. She
also notes that Baptism and burial were basic markers of Humanity for Frederick Douglass. What do you think
about these ideas what is the role of the dead in a people’s connection to a place and time? What is the role of
proper burial to one’s humanity?
The attitude of many of these skull measures was that they simply measured things. Why do people like
Morton choose to divorce themselves from the ideologies of racism and colonialism that they were trafficking
in?
How does the treatment of Civil war solders compare to that of Indigenous peoples in the West who were also
victims of violent battles and epidemics?
What do you think of the juxtaposition of the display of Indigenous heads with no name with a card baring the
name of their White donators?
