The word autopsy comes from the Greek autopsia and translates to "seeing for oneself." There are many arguments for why working with human cadavers is essential to a medical education, particularly osteopathy. However, the practice of anatomical dissection has a harrowing history full of shifting attitudes towards health and medicine. The history of anatomical dissection in Kansas City is illustrated by the information preserved in artifacts from the D'Angelo library's special collections. By researching the documentation of the earliest anatomical society of Kansas City and the earliest schools procuring bodies for educational purposes, we see many aspects of early medicine's challenges.
The 16th century is when students and professors of medicine began performing anatomical dissections for the purposes of studying bodies. (Gregory, 2002). In the United States, early laws dictated that criminals would be subject to dissection as a deterrent to breaking the law. (Hulkower, 2016)
This photo from the archives was donated by the family of Esther Elston (class of 1929)
An ongoing project for the archives has been to look at newspaper articles and historical documents to get a clearer picture of who the people listed as the earliest donors for human dissection.
The article on the right is from 1895 and illustrates the problems physicians faced in the late 1800s, specifically the unfortunately named "Dr. Coffin." This primary source explains possibly why the earliest ledgers from 1911 carefully note the names of undertakers. There are numerous articles around the turn of the century detailing disputes and accusations of disputes between physicians and undertakers. Many undertakers were known to sell bodies for the highest bid instead of where the state of Missouri had allocated them.
This 1892 article is the earliest the anatomical society is mentioned in the Kansas City Star. It helps us better
understand whose bodies were being acquired (mostly the poor). It also shows that the law was unclear and subject to differing agendas.
Thankfully, laws became much clearer and we start to see the later ledgers reflect the bodies being willed or donated.
References
Gregory, S R., Cole, T R. (2002). The Changing Role of Dissection in Medical Education. JAMA. Vol. 287 (9), pg 1180-1181. doi:10.1001/jama.287.9.1180-JMS0306-4-1
Hulkower, R. (2016). From sacrilege to privilege: The tale of body procurement for anatomical dissection in the United States. The Einstein Journal of Biology and Medicine. Vol.27 (1), p.23.
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