American Mummies: Three Iron Coffin Cold Cases from the 1850s

Part detective story, part American history: the reconstructed lives of three mummies buried in iron coffins

American Mummies explores life in the first half of the nineteenth century from a unique perspective, combining American history with cold case investigation. The three mummies—discovered in Egyptian-looking iron coffins that naturally preserved their remains—aren’t the relics of defunct ancient empires; they died in New York and New Jersey in the 1850s. Yet their stories crackle with accounts of life and death during a crucial period in our country’s history when fundamental decisions regarding race, sex, and power were becoming encoded into the nation’s DNA. The diversity of their experiences—Black and White, male and female—presents a vivid cross section of everyday life from over 175 years ago, while the integration of forensic science, archaeology, and genealogy offer granular details—even capturing fleeting glimpses of the mummies’ final hours among the living.

Recounted by the former forensic archaeologist who found them, the mummies’ shocking discoveries and painstaking identifications lead from abandoned burial plots to morgues, labs, and funeral homes. Assisted by experts from the Smithsonian Institute, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, and various universities, the meticulous analysis and research weave the deceased’s lives, families, and social networks into a tapestry of interconnections, tragedies, and triumphs.

Their stories brim with riots, fires, jailbreaks, and contagions, offering both local details and wide vistas of a seminal and dangerous period in American history. And the curious circumstances surrounding their discovery pull back the muddied veil of the dead’s place in the urban landscape, raising key questions such as: How long does one get to rest in their grave? Who decides when that time is up? And what happens then?