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Media Restricted
Cast of Sturmann's head
Media Restricted
Object Number 2003.1.798
Display Title Cast of Sturmann's head
Descriptions
Object Description This cast of Sturmann's head was made from a mold taken at the time of his death. In 1860, seventeen-year old Sturmann, was one of five indigenous South Africans brought to Boston for public exhibition at the Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens (endorsed by Louis Agassiz from Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology). After being on public display for six months, Sturmann died by suicide. His body was measured and dissected by Jeffries Wyman, then Hersey Professor of Anatomy at Harvard College and later the first director of the Peabody Museum, for the purposes of race science (Report of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery 2022, pp. 36-37, https://legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/report).
Classification
  • Unclassified
Department Osteological
Culture
  • Khoikhoi
Geography/Provenience/Site Name
Africa
Materials Cast, Paint
Dimensions Overall: 30.7 x 24.3 x 19.6 cm (12 1/16 x 9 9/16 x 7 11/16 in.)
Quantity 1
Label on object 2003.1.798

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