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by Bob Metzger, 30 Jan 1995
The Saturday Austin American-Statesman ran a news story from the Associated Press regarding the Smithsonian Institution's recent destruction of nude photographs of Yale University sudents. (No, this is not a cheap ploy to get your attention--read on!) You may already have heard something about this, since it has been reported rather widely over the past few weeks, but it was not until I saw Saturday's AP story that I realized that this story has a very strong numismatic connection. Here are some excerpts from the story:
The Smithsonian Institution on Friday destroyed nude photographs taken decades ago of Yale University students who were unaware the pictures were used to advance a since-discredited science.
Under the eye of a Yale representative, Smithsonian officials emptied more than 100 pounds of photos and negatives into a shredder at a museum office in Suitland, Md.
Yale lawyers wanted the photos destroyed to protect the privacy of its graduates, many of whom have since gone on to become leaders in culture and politics.
Posing for the photos was required of students years ago at many Ivy League colleges and other prestigious schools, including Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, Vassar and Swarthmore.
The photos were taken beginning in the early 1900's as part of physical education classes.
Later, from the 1940s to the 1960s, a researcher named W.H. Sheldon took photographs as part of his research. He believed that there was a relationship between body shape and intelligence. Students, however, were not aware of the research, and believed the photos were only being used for physical education classes.
Although the work was apparently respected then, Sheldon's research has since been dismissed by most scientists. The photos were never displayed at the Smithsonian and had been available only to students and researchers. Sheldon's research associate has given the photos to the Washington institution.
A few years ago, while my wife was completing her B.S. in education at the University of Texas, she had some assigned reading from one of Dr. Sheldon's books, The Atlas of Men. Seeing her with the book, I took my copy of Early American Cents (aka Penny Whimsy) down from the shelf to show her that the author was the same Dr. Sheldon. Yes, the same Dr. Sheldon for whom attributions of Early Date large cents carry an S- prefix. The same Dr. Sheldon who developed the 70 point (BS-1 through MS-70) grading scale that is used today for (mostly) United States coins, although not quite in the way he intended. The same Dr. Sheldon who spent years researching large cents in the collection of the American Numismatic Society, a number of which, it has since been discovered, were switched out by someone and replaced by matching varieties in inferior states of preservation.
Like many highly intelligent people, Dr. Sheldon's had a seemingly insatiable appetite for knowledge, and his interests stretched over a broad range of subjects. He also generated more than his share of controversy, even continues to do so even years after his death.
Sorry about the length of this post, but I had heard bits and pieces of this "photo" story over the past week or so. Subjects of the photos reportedly included former president Bush, Meryl Streep, and many other comparitively "famous" people. I haven't heard anything regarding the disposition of the non-Yale photos. In any event, when I saw the connection to Dr. Sheldon this weekend, I thought this would be an appropriate forum for sharing it.
(All spelling errors in any part of this message were my own, and not the Associated Press'. Credit where credit is due, please.)
Bob Metzger
Austin, TX, USA
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