Anatomy: an evolving rite of passage

As ideas about anatomical education have changed, so have the images from the dissection room.

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Students at an unknown medical school, circa 1895, use black humor to express their feelings about dissection. State laws governing anatomy varied widely and evolved from the late 1880s to the 1920s, when many schools took photos of students posing with cadavers to mark the rite of passage into the world of medicine.

Photo reprinted with permission from the collection of Steve & Mary DeGenaro