Morbid Anatomy and Atlas Obscura Present a Private Viewing with Back-Stage Access at the Mütter Museum, Saturday, March 20th!

Morbid Anatomy is pleased to announce a special private viewing and back-stage tour of our favorite United States medical museum--Philadelphia's Mütter Museum--as the Morbid Anatomy contribution to the first annual Atlas Obscura day!

On Saturday March 20th --the first day of Spring!--the incomparable Mütter Museum will open its doors for a special private viewing open only to Atlas Obscura Day participants, as part of an international celebration of the obscure and the wondrous organized by the Atlas Obscura website. That means no struggling past crowds of people and screaming school groups to see the astounding exhibits and artifacts that made the Mütter famous; instead, enjoy a quiet, contemplative hour of museum time with only other Atlas Obscurites as your company. A rare and wonderful treat at such a (rightfully!) bustlingly popular museum!

As an added bonus, the first 12 people to arrive (and this is on a strictly first-come, first-served basis) will get a special behind-the-scenes tour of the museum by curator Anna Dhody. After the tour, Anna will remain in the galleries to answer your questions until the museum opens to the general public at 10 AM. Another bonus: All Atlas Obscura Day participants will be admitted to the museum at a reduced student rate of $10.

I will be present for the entire event in my role as co-presenter and hostess, and hope very much to see you all there! This will be a seriously not-to-be-missed occasion. Full details and links follow:

Atlas Obscura and Morbid Anatomy Present:
Private Viewing and Back-Room Access at Philadelphia's Mutter Museum
Saturday, March 20, 2010 from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM (EST) (before museum opens!)
Mütter Museum: 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 [map]
Admission: $10

Join Atlas Obscura and Morbid Anatomy at the Mutter Museum for a private viewing of curious medical anomalies and human anatomy.

The museum will open early to provide a private view for Atlas Obscurites from 9-10 AM. The first 12 people (first come, first served!) to arrive will get special back-stage tours with curator Anna Dhody.

Participants will be able to explore a wondrous selection of specimens displayed in the same Victorian cabinets that the museum opened with in 1858. From the skeleton of the tallest man in North America to a collection of 2,000 objects extracted from people's throats the exhibits will be sure to convey a lesser-known side of medical history. Also of note are the conjoined twin skeletons and the plaster death cast of Chang and Eng, who lived their lives attached at their livers.

For more about the event, and to RSVP, click here. To find out about other Atlas Obscura-day events, click here. For more about the museum, including directions and collections, click here. And if you've not yet made yourself acquainted with the wonderful Atlas Obscura, you can do so by clicking here.

Also, a special thanks to Mütter Director and friend-of-Morbid-Anatomy Robert Hicks--and all the other wonderful staff at the Mütter Museum--for making this wonderful event happen!

All above images of the Mütter Museum are drawn from the Anatomical Theatre exhibition, a photo survey of medical museums of the Western world; Images 1-3 are front-stage views and images 4-5 are back-stage views. You can find out more by clicking here.