Grover Krantz Donated His Body to Science, On One Condition…
Grover and Clyde on display
The late anthropologist Grover Krantz with his giant Irish wolfhound Clyde. The above photo inspired the skeletal display currently on view.
Grover Krantz (1931-2002) was known as a teacher, a loving pet owner, an eccentric anthropologist, and the first serious Bigfoot academic. Seven years after losing a battle to pancreatic cancer, Krantz’s reputation is still well preserved, in more ways than one. His skeleton and that of his giant Irish Wolfhound Clyde are now on display at the 5,000 square foot exhibition “Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake,” which opened last Saturday at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
The exhibit takes visitors into the world of the bone biographer—how skeletons can be read to solve colonial-era mysteries or identify the victims of war crimes in Croatia. Visitors can see the skeletons of Krantz and Clyde in a loving embrace at the end of the exhibit as an example of how body donations are put to use as educational tools.
Before Krantz died, he said to Smithsonian anthropologist David Hunt, “I’ve been a teacher all my life and I think I might as well be a teacher after I’m dead, so why don’t I just give you my body.” When Hunt agreed, Krantz added, “But there’s one catch: You have to keep my dogs with me.”
So after Krantz passed, there was no funeral. Instead, his body was shipped to the University of Tennessee’s body farm, where scientists study human decay rates to aid in forensic investigations. From there, he and his wolfhounds were housed in a green cabinet in the labyrinthine back halls of the Natural History Museum, the same place they keep the dinosaur bones. Hunt even has Krantz’s baby teeth.
Krantz’s presence at the exhibit is one of the more personal touches to the “Written in Bone” exhibit. Co-curators Douglas Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide, two of the nation’s top forensic anthropologists, were colleagues of Krantz, a Washington State University professor. He played a role in the famous Kennewick Man case, one of the biggest of Owsley’s career, as one of the anthropologists arguing for the study of an 8,4000-year-old skeleton uncovered on Washington State park area. (Which, after much controversy, was finally allowed.)
Krantz was a true teacher in life, and his skeleton, on display for the next two years, will ensure he is one in death as well.
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Very interesting! Funny that he was a ‘Big Foot’ academic!
Comment by Kristina — February 11, 2009 @ 10:12 am
What an incredible gift to science and discovery. As tourist season gears up, Krantz and Clyde will be viewed by the swarms of people visiting the nations capitol. I can’t help but admire that his dedication to teaching continues to make such an impact.
Comment by Dan — March 22, 2009 @ 11:20 pm
I respected Dr. Krantz’ work and regretted not meeting him while he was still alive. I was delighted to finally “meet” him, and Clyde, and simultaneously pay my respects while touring the museum this last week with my children.
Comment by David — July 25, 2009 @ 8:24 pm
Grover Krantz was one of the finest teachers I had. He found ways of explaining difficult concepts. I was not surprised to learn he ended up at the Body Farm and the Smithsonian. He gave a lot to his students.
In the Fall of 1971, he led a expedition to try to find “Cripple Foot” a Bigfoot hit by a car the previous winter in northern Washington, known previously from casts of its feet. It was tracked for awhile, but a snow storm stopped the pursuit. Our expedition hoped to recover its remains, to no avail. On the way back to camp, Grover slammed on the brakes. I asked why, and he said a big animal had darted across the road. He had broken his glasses and could not identify the animal. It was twilight but I followed the trail for 1000 feet or so in an open pine forest. I examined the tracks in a skiff of snow on damp forest floor and concluded that it was not any hoofed animal. Whatever made the tracks had flat feet and left a mark in the snow more than a foot long. Bear? Human? Sasquatch? Grover never said what he thought it was, but he wouldn’t have stopped for a bear. Sadly, that was his best chance to see a sasquatch and he had broken his glasses.
Grover approached the whole Bigfoot thing as a scientist trying to understand a set of data. He lost a lot of academic prestige by tackling this issue. When I knew him he had not concluded that Bigfoot was a real species, but he presented a logical case that it was easier to believe an unknown species lived in the Pacific Northwest, than to believe that the data resulted from hoaxes spanning nearly two centuries. Someone bright enough to make a “monkey suit” would have been smart enough not to wear it during hunting season in the same region where a cow was shot despite having been painted in bright orange letters “COW”.
Those of us who knew him were fortunate. He is missed. I look forward to seeing him one day in the Smithsonian.
Comment by Bill Adams — December 8, 2009 @ 7:22 pm