Science of Death: What Lies within Mütter and beneath Laurel Hill

Science of Death:

What Lies within Mütter and beneath Laurel Hill

Curiosity is a wonderful thing and this trip through the mysterious and bizarre is sure to keep you riveted from beginning to end. Join Anna Dhody, Curator of the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, as she regales you with an informative talk on the historic rise of embalming during and after the Civil War. Let your inquisitive side be your guide as you learn about chemicals, equipment and just what makes the science of death. Attendees will also have the opportunity to check out some of the Museum’s great objects during the lecture.

Afterwards, Alexis Jeffcoat of Laurel Hill Cemetery will lead participants on a twilight journey through the site, visiting the gravesites of those residents with stories both odd and unforgettable, including a prominent industrialist’s strange and fatal dental visit; a victim of an Old West cook nicknamed “Red Bill;” and the woman who simply left behind her heart. No tour on this subject would be complete without greeting a few of Philadelphia’s famed undertakers as well.

This program for the Philadelphia Science Festival (www.philasciencefestival.org) is presented by the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery in collaboration with the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. It will take place on Thursday, April 26 at 6:30pm, departing from Laurel Hill Cemetery’s Gatehouse entrance at 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19132, and concluding with refreshments, wine and beer. Free parking is located in the lot across the street from the Gatehouse.

The cost is $20/person general admission. Advance registration is requested. Tickets can be purchased by calling (215) 228-8200 or online at www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org.

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest professional medical organization in the country, was founded in 1787 when twenty-four physicians gathered “to advance the science of medicine and to thereby lessen human misery.” Today more than 1,400 Fellows (elected members) continue to convene at the College and work towards better serving the public. Throughout its two-hundred-year history, the College has provided a place for both medical professionals and the general public to learn about medicine as both a science and as an art. The College is home to the Historical Medical Library and the Mütter Museum, America’s finest museum of medical history, which displays its beautifully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a nineteenth-century setting. The museum helps the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body and to appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease. With an attendance exceeding 105,000 today, the Museum has become internationally well known, has been featured in a documentary on the Discovery Channel, and is the subject of two best-selling books.