New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research

By Stephen Smith and Jack Brook | Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century.

On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service, including a jazz funeral — one of the city’s most distinctive traditions — paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial.

“We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of their bodies,” said Monique Guillory, president of Dillard University, a historically Black private liberal arts college, which spearheaded the receipt of the remains on behalf of the city. “This is ac