# Medical Museums Display Remains Acquired Through Eugenic Practices

Medical museums across North America and Europe house thousands of infant remains, many acquired through deeply unethical means rooted in eugenic ideology. These collections reflect historical practices that exploited vulnerable populations, particularly people with disabilities and those deemed "unfit" by eugenicist standards.

The origins of these remains trace back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when eugenic thinking pervaded medicine and public health. Institutions targeted infants with developmental differences, disabilities, or those born to marginalized families. Acquisition often involved coercion, misrepresentation of consent, and institutional abuse. Some remains came from medical experimentation. Others were retained without family knowledge or permission.

Today, these collections remain largely hidden from public view. Museum labels frequently omit the harrowing circumstances of acquisition or the eugenic ideology behind specimen collection. This erasure allows institutions to avoid reckoning with complicity in historical exploitation. Families of the deceased rarely know their relatives' remains are displayed in museums.

The display itself perpetuates stigma. By exhibiting infant remains as medical curiosities or teaching tools, museums reinforce the notion that bodies bearing disability or difference warrant public scrutiny. This framing echoes the dehumanization that enabled collection in the first place.

Repatriation efforts have begun in some locations. The UK's Royal College of Surgeons returned human remains to Indigenous communities and descendants. However, many museums have not implemented systematic review of collections or repatriation policies.

Meaningful change requires museums to acknowledge how eugenic thinking shaped acquisition. This means researching provenance, contacting descendants when possible, and offering repatriation to families. It also means rethinking how medical history is taught and displayed. Institutions must move beyond treating human remains as neutral scientific objects. They must recognize the people