最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Washington University is distancing itself from a once-revered university leader after students found he had spent years writing about the racial superiority of white people.

WashU has removed the name of Robert J. Terry from all university titles, including a lecture series and professorship at its medical school, after the university鈥檚 new Naming Review Board agreed with a challenge co-signed by 12 students.

Paul Scott, a recent graduate of WashU, led the charge to remove Terry鈥檚 name. He said he first learned of Terry during a lecture on evolution in 2022.

鈥淎s a Black student, seeing that someone had done such horrific work in the pursuit of further marginalizing communities like my own was devastating,鈥� Scott said.

The students鈥� challenge highlighted Terry鈥檚 questionable methods of acquiring skeletal remains for his osteology collection 鈥� and how that collection informed his now-controversial views.

Terry served as the head of WashU鈥檚 former Anatomy Department from 1899 to 1941. He was a respected figure in 最新杏吧原创 and the medical world during his lifetime. He died in 1966.

Terry鈥檚 trove of bones and preserved human tissue is one of the most widely studied skeletal collections in the world, in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology reported. It鈥檚 been used in numerous theses, dissertations, articles and research journals.

But his collection, amassed by leveraging a state law that legalized the dissection of unclaimed bodies, contained specimens taken from over 1,700 deceased individuals who gave no consent for their body parts to be harvested for study.

Terry grew his collection mostly from the cadavers of marginalized people that went unclaimed at public hospitals and morgues in 最新杏吧原创.

More than half of the specimens came from African Americans, from researcher Carlina de la Cova shows. Others were sourced from poor immigrants in the 最新杏吧原创 area and the remains of Native Americans. A small portion聽鈥� at least five males聽鈥� were Asian.

鈥淗e used these bodies to make blasphemous papers,鈥� said Jai-Laan Blackmon, a recent graduate of WashU who also researched Terry.

Blackmon and Scott studied Terry through thousands of pages of letters, papers and studies, and archived materials at WashU.

They found Terry was a staunch supporter of eugenics, a discredited field of study that promoted selective breeding to improve the human race. It promoted certain traits as preferable to others.

Groups considered less 鈥渇it鈥� by eugenicists included indigenous populations, Black and Jewish people, and the poor. Eugenics was a key rationalization to sterilize or murder millions of people.

A series of letters written by Terry made clear where he stood on eugenics. In one letter, he complained of the 鈥渂ad stock鈥� entering the U.S., the review board reported. He wrote 鈥渢he hereditarily defective and unfit鈥� had become 鈥渁 menace to the hereditary constitution of our people.鈥�

Terry also served on the advisory council of the International Commission on Eugenics Committee of the U.S.

Scott and Blackmon said they were shocked that WashU, or really anyone in the medical community, did not acknowledge Terry鈥檚 past until recently.

鈥淭hese histories weren鈥檛 necessarily communicated,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淚n fact, Dr. Terry and his legacy were being honored and celebrated.鈥�

The annual Robert J. Terry Lecture was established in 1938 and remained a renowned public address at what鈥檚 now the Department of Neuroscience at WashU.

The Robert J. Terry Professorship was established in 2007 and held by a series of eminent researchers. The latest to hold the title was , a leader in neuroscience.

In an email, Kepecs said the Terry professorship was discontinued earlier this year and he supported the board鈥檚 decision.

Scott鈥檚 submission to remove Terry鈥檚 name from the titles was the first brought to the Naming Review Board. The university formed the board in 2024 as a check to ensure the names of buildings, scholarships and other university features

Peter Kastor, a history professor and chair of the board, said the detailed records Terry left behind were key to their decision to remove his name.

鈥淎s a historian, it鈥檚 often very difficult to understand somebody鈥檚 beliefs,鈥� Kastor said. 鈥淲ith Terry, this was not a question. He left a large and copious documentary record, and it鈥檚 filled with correspondence in which he expresses his support for the eugenics agenda.鈥�

Scott, who graduated on Monday, said the review board鈥檚 decision makes him 鈥渏ust as happy, if not happier,鈥� than receiving his degree.

But the work isn鈥檛 done yet.

The large bulk of Terry鈥檚 bone collection was moved to the Smithsonian Institution in 1967, but a small portion remains at WashU.

It鈥檚 unclear how much.

Two university spokespeople and a member of WashU鈥檚 general counsel did not answer questions about how much of the Terry collection remains at the university.

The review board鈥檚 report said efforts were underway for the 鈥渆thical management鈥� of the collection with community input.

Julie Flory, vice chancellor for marketing and communications, said WashU is reviewing the matter and is looking for a way to honor the individuals involved. She confirmed no remains from the collection are being used in any way.

The identities of the people in Terry鈥檚 collection are unknown and have 鈥渘o recognition to this day,鈥� Blackmon said.

鈥淭his story does not end here, and it still has not ended every day that this collection has not been treated in a way that amends these harms,鈥� Blackmon said.