The Morbid Museum

In part II of the series we will delve more deeply into the history of NOLA's death culture, funerary and burial practices by exploring it's cemeteries.

New Orleans is a beloved and complex city that has a reputation for being obsessed with joy and death in equal measure. Haunted by alleged ghosts and it's very real past, the morbid history of NOLA is endlessly fascinating. This series will focus on how it first gained it's reputation as "a city of the dead."

• The New Orleans Cemetery Database
• "How Yellow Fever Intensified Racial Inequality in 19th-Century New Orleans" By: Karin Wulf | April 19, 2022 | Smithsonian Magazine
• Epidemic in New Orleans | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
• The Cemetery Under The French Quarter | WWNO
• "New Orleans’ Grave Traditions Unearthed : Customs: The many elaborate sculptures and unusual layouts of the city’s cemeteries make them an interesting tourist attraction." | BY CHARLES HILLINGER | Los Angeles Times
• "How Yellow Fever Turned New Orleans Into The 'City Of The Dead'" Code Switch : NPR
• "In the late 1800s, devastating yellow fever epidemics forced New Orleans to confront its sanitation problem" | The Historic New Orleans Collection

THANKS TO OUR TO PATREON SUBSCRIBERS! We couldn't do this without you. Extra special thanks to the following patrons for their exceptional support:

Matthew Aronoff

Dennis Barette

Rob Emmett

Haley Lamp

Become an official Morbuddy: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum

Email us at [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod

Note: As of the release of this episode, the Town Hall meeting has been released and is watchable at: https://youtu.be/Da0uML0BPy4?si=12pHRR1_abEaJ6EF

In recent decades, museums and historical sites all over the world have been engaging in the incredibly important and difficult conversation of repatriation, especially when it comes to human remains. The ethical questions are numerous, and each case is complex and, at times, highly nuanced. How do you find provenance for remains that are over 150 years old? What is the appropriate resting place for unclaimed, unidentified remains? Who decides that? Is the answer to ban all human remains from being on display? One institution that is currently undergoing massive scrutiny for how it is handling the question of displaying or repatriating human remains is the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. To aid us in this discussion, Katie interviewed members of "Protect the Mütter ," a campaign devoted to challenging the current decisions being made around removing human remains from public view. ONLY AVAILABLE ON PATREON!

For more information on "Protect the Mütter" you can check out their linktree: https://linktr.ee/protectthemutter?fbclid=PAAaaJ_jHZvgyUNsxQWTrND8LZENQedtQW1jGneEBc34WS296L5AObLooEOuM_aem_AZTCUoIoWTgHM0gQkV4qTX1cotfWkFzqWjFrXj26YmYVVs4VI4Lye43Stya6bAJ7h-A

THANKS TO OUR TO PATREON SUBSCRIBERS! We couldn't do this without you. Extra special thanks to the following patrons for their exceptional support:

Matthew Aronoff

Dennis Barette

Rob Emmett

Haley Lamp

Lauren Stephenson

Become an official Morbuddy: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum

Email us at [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod

In recent decades, museums and historical sites all over the world have been engaging in the incredibly important and difficult conversation of repatriation, especially when it comes to human remains. The ethical questions are numerous, and each case is complex and, at times, highly nuanced. How do you find provenance for remains that are over 150 years old? What is the appropriate resting place for unclaimed, unidentified remains? Who decides that? Is the answer to ban all human remains from being on display? One institution that is currently undergoing massive scrutiny for how it is handling the question of displaying or repatriating human remains is the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. To aid us in this discussion, Katie interviewed members of "Protect the Mütter ," a campaign devoted to challenging the current decisions being made around removing human remains from public view.

For more information on "Protect the Mütter" you can check out their linktree: https://linktr.ee/protectthemutter?fbclid=PAAaaJ_jHZvgyUNsxQWTrND8LZENQedtQW1jGneEBc34WS296L5AObLooEOuM_aem_AZTCUoIoWTgHM0gQkV4qTX1cotfWkFzqWjFrXj26YmYVVs4VI4Lye43Stya6bAJ7h-A

THANKS TO OUR TO PATREON SUBSCRIBERS! We couldn't do this without you. Extra special thanks to the following patrons for their exceptional support:

Matthew Aronoff

Dennis Barette

Rob Emmett

Haley Lamp

Lauren Stephenson

Become an official Morbuddy: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum

Email us at [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod

In Philadelphia, a hulking ruin of one of America's largest prisons is now a historic site and famed attraction. Eastern State Penitentiary illustrates the changing cultural mores around crime and punishment, and the mass incarceration crisis today.

Thank you, Patreon Subscribers! We couldn't do this without you. Extra special thanks to the following patrons for their exceptional support:

Matthew Aronoff

Dennis Barette

Rob Emmett

Haley Lamp

Become an official Morbuddy: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum

Email us at [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod

For at least two centuries, the tale of Sweeney Todd has delighted and terrified us to our very core, but has left us with some questions. How did this legend begin? Was Sweeney Todd a real person? Join as we dive deep into the mysterious and thrilling history of the most famous barber of all time.

• Collection of dime novels and penny dreadfuls - Stanford Libraries
• Barry Ono collection of Penny Dreadfuls - The British Library
• PBS - Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• The Wonderful and Surprising History of Sweeney Todd by Robert L. Mack
• BBC - Press Office - Sweeney Todd Man or Myth?
• Robert Pickton Case | The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Human remains from Pickton farm may have reached food supply - The Globe and Mail
• The demon barber of Calais, a 17th century Sweeney Todd

THANKS TO OUR TO PATREONS! We couldn't do this without you. Extra special thanks especially to the following patrons:

Matthew Aronoff

Dennis Barette

Haley Lamp

Become an official Morbuddy: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum

Email us at [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod

Hey Morbuddies! As a special treat, we have decided to release an exclusive episode from our Patreon Ahistorical Cinema Vault!

Did you know we’ve added more tiers and benefits to our Patreon!? New tiers include some of the following:

• Your name in our show notes thanking you for your support
• Special content requests - Got a historical movie you’d like to hear a deep dive on? A weird bit of history you’d like discussed? Happy to oblige AND credit your idea!
• Your name read aloud at the end of our episodes
• 5-10% discount on all future merchandise (Store coming soon!)

If you like what you hear, please consider becoming an official Morbuddy on Patreon today!

________________________________________________________

Become an official Morbuddy: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum

Email us at [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod

Social Media Consulting: Larisa Courtien

What began as a small bin fire on the 8th floor of an unsafe factory, would end in the tragic and untimely death of 146 workers. Sorrow turned to outrage, and this tragedy would push sweeping labor reform throughout the United States, inspiring the New Deal and other pieces of progressive legislation that still inform our labor rights today. 

• American Experience: Triangle Fire | PBS
• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire | History.Com
• "The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Difficult lessons learned on fire codes and safety" MARCH 22ND, 2021 by Stephen Jones | Building Safety Journal
• New York Times Coverage of the Fire | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
• "The Story of Us - Triangle Shirtwaist Fire" - Produced and Created by The History Channel
• The Memorial – Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition Official Website
• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire - Trial Testimony
• "How the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire transformed labor laws and protected workers’ health" | PBS NewsHour
• "Traces of an American Tragedy: Inside the Former Triangle Shirtwaist Factory" Mar 19, 2015 Eileen Reynolds Mar 19, 2015 NYU.EDU
• "Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire" by Cornell University

Become an official Morbuddy: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum

Email us at [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod

Social Media Consulting: Larisa Courtien

Costumed interpretation, or living history, or reenacting, is a fascinating practice in which historical dress, tools and props are used to present and educate about the past. We discuss the particular American brand of living history, as chronicled in Tony Horwitz' enduring classic, Confederates in the Attic.

Patreon: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Instagram: @themorbidmuseum

Email: [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory garment workers, mostly young women and teenagers, faced inhumane treatment and conditions, exacerbated by the greed and neglect of their employers. Unbeknownst to them, this mid-rise building in Manhattan, designed to maximize efficiency, was a death trap.

• "THE TRIANGLE FIRE AND THE LIMITS OF PROGRESSIVISM," A Dissertation Presented by FRANCES B. JENSEN, Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 1996 Department of History
• Cornell University - ILR School - The Triangle Factory Fire
• "Triangle Shirtwaist Factory women strike, win better wages and hours, New York, 1909 | Global Nonviolent Action Database
• The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Origins of International Women’s Day | Barbara's Bookstore
• "The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Difficult lessons learned on fire codes and safety" by Stephen Jones | Building Safety Journal | MARCH 22ND, 2021
• Triangle Fire | American Experience Season 23, Episode 6 | PBS
• New York Times Coverage of the Fire | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
• Shirtwaist Kings | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
• Pauline Newman: Organizer | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire | History.Com | A&E Television Networks
• History of Labor Day | U.S. Department of Labor

Become an official Morbuddy: patreon.com/themorbidmuseum

Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum

Email us at [email protected]

Artwork: Brittany Schall

Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod