Grave Dealings: Body Snatching in Philadelphia, 1762-1883 (Virtual)

In the 18th century the first American medical school was established in Philadelphia. Following the model of European universities, anatomical lectures were conducted with cadavers. But where did the bodies come from? Philadelphia pioneered and became the center of American medical education and practice in the 18th and 19th centuries, but as the medical profession and its need for “anatomical material” grew a new, macabre practice also emerged in the city: body snatching. Body snatchers secretly obtained bodies from cemeteries and sold them to medical schools for dissection. Join Tim Dewysockie as he tours the history of body snatching in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania through the story of David Hayes Agnew, an American surgeon, anatomist, and educator who practiced medicine in Chester County. Explore the forgotten history of a time of graveyard patrols and anatomy riots, when the dead needed protection from the living, and the legacy of a curious time when crime and medicine collided in America’s first capital city.

About the Speaker: Tim Dewysockie graduated in 2016 from Drexel University with a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science, and from Rowan University in 2020 with a Master’s Degree in History, where he developed a passion for local history. He has worked in libraries and archives for over two decades, and currently works for Rowan University Libraries in New Jersey.

Admission is Pay as You Wish! Your donation is greatly appreciated. All proceeds benefit the development of future programming and the preservation of the History Center and its collections. The History Center is home to over 750,000 manuscripts, 100,000 photographs, and 70,000 artifacts. Your donation helps us to preserve and share those resources.

Presentation is via Zoom, and will be recorded and available for 7 days for all registered participants. We will email out a Zoom link the day of the program, and email a link to the recording within 24 hours. Note: the Zoom link emailed out the day of the presentation only takes you to the live Zoom; the link emailed out the day after will contain the recorded version.

This program is made possible with the support of the Chester County Community Foundation and the Chester County History Center Special Fund in honor of 18th century botanist Humphry Marshall.