The Finger Saga, an article written by Rebecca Mancuso of University of California Press, and featured in The Public Historian, brought to light the issue of the preservation and display of human remains in an academic setting.
The remains in question are a set of severed fingers placed in a jar that were retrieved from a crime scene. The article describes the ways in which the tragedy of the circumstances surrounding the fingers have been reduced and objectified for financial gain. At what point do human remains stop being ‘sacred’ and become an artifact? Worse yet, issues of morality come into play when using human remains for display and to attract visitors for money. It’s a very delicate issue, and many suggest that we simply tow the line between preservation and education and simple objectification and abuse.
These negatives are offset by the beneficial elements of the museum’s mission regarding the object: to educate the public about domestic violence and the worst outcomes imaginable.
