Nineteenth-century Americans were uneasy about dissection and usually refused to release relatives' or friends' corpses, even for educational purposes. After the State University announced plans for a Medical Department in 1868, some Iowa City residents raised concerns about the sanctity of local churchyards. Medical students and anatomy instructors were known to resort to grave robbing to obtain specimens. Medical Department organizers, however, assured everyone that all subjects would be legally procured from outside Iowa.

16. Anatomy students at the State University of Iowa, 1897, courtesy of the University of Iowa College of Medicine

On Thursday, December 29, 1870, Iowa City resident Dr. George Kimball hosted the funeral services for his mother-in-law, Mary D. Herrick, who had died the previous day. Mrs. Herrick was buried that afternoon in Oakland Cemetery, the new town graveyard.

Within 24 hours, the cemetery sexton noticed that Mrs. Herrick's grave appeared to have been disturbed and upon excavation, it was discovered that Mrs. Herrick's body was missing. An account book belonging to the medical school janitor and driver for Professor of Anatomy James Boucher, was discovered at the site.

Herrick's family was notified of the "resurrection" and of the medical department's apparent involvement, and by 5:00 that evening, they had begun to file papers for a search warrant. But searches of the Medical Department and Dr. Boucher's home yielded nothing.

The family was then approached by John P. Irish, member of the Board of Trustees, and pallbearer at Mrs. Herrick's funeral. Irish offered to use his university and community contacts retrieve the body. The grateful relatives promised not to pursue legal action if the body was returned.

By the early hours of January 2, Mrs. Herrick's remains were back at the undertakers'. However, they were now unrecognizable. Most of the corpse's face had been cut away, and the veins injected with a preserving fluid in preparation for further dissection.

Newspapers across the state reacted swiftly to the "resurrection affair," attacking the "medical hyenas attending the University." Iowa City papers ran a letter from Herrick's family saying that unless citizens could be sure that their relatives would rest undisturbed, "better annihilate the medical department and raze the building to the ground."

The janitor, Irish, Boucher, and two medical students were arrested for body snatching, but a grand jury declined to find any of them at fault. One of the two students went on to become class valedictorian.

Boucher resigned at the height of the scandal. The furor finally died down, and legislation was passed that made it easier for the Medical Department to claim prisoners' bodies for dissection.