Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection

When the laws of the state of Ohio were changed in 1911, it became possible for professors of anatomy to retain the skeletons and other specimens from the cadavers that their medical students dissected.  Upon his arrival at Western Reserve University as a professor of anatomy in 1912, T. W. Todd seized this opportunity and built up a collection that, by the time of his death in 1938, contained records of over 3600 cadavers and over 3,000 skeletons. These materials were supported by extensive documentation, hence, the largest, modern, documented human skeletal collection in the world. Carl Hamann, Dean of the Western Reserve University School of Medicine, was instrumental in assisting Todd in enlarging this collection.

The skeletons in the University’s collection were transferred to The Cleveland Museum of Natural History during the 1950’s and 1960’s. With the opening of the Physical Anthropology Lab at the Museum, this collection has become one of the most researched museum collections in the world. 

The History of the Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection

Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection Databases

Decimal Collection

Non-Human Primate Collection

Cast Collection

Pathology Collection

Because of the diversity of Hamann and Todd’s collecting activity, a number of the specimens they collected have also ended up in other departments at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

In Vertebrate Paleontology, 97 isolated specimens of bison, ground sloth, horses, saber-tooth cats and wolves make up the N. W. Goodman collection.  These items were collected at the La Brea Tarpits in California and presented to Todd in 1921.

In Vertebrate Zoology, the H.K. Cushing Collection of Rocky Mountain Mammals is one of the highlights of over 1900 specimens comprising the Hamann-Todd Non-primate Skeletal Collection.

Bibliography

Todd, T.W. 1925. Western Reserve University School of Medicine Laboratory of Anatomy.
Methods and Problems of Education. Third Series. New York: The Rockefeller Foundation.

Cobb WM. 1935. Municipal history from anatomical records. Science Monthly 40:157-162.

Cobb, W.M. 1932.  Human Archives.  Department of Anatomy, Western Reserve University: Cleveland, Ohio.

Gottlieb M.  1982. Skeletons in the closet. Northern Ohio Live 2: 38-41.

Jones-Kern K and Latimer B. 1996. Skeletons out of the Closet. Explorer 38[1&2], 26-28.

Kern, K.F. 2006.  T. Wingate Todd: Pioneer of modern American physical anthropology. Kirtlandia 55:1-42.