One of the biggest problems facing medical schools in the antebellum era was the procurement of bodies for dissection among other things. The Medical College of Georgia (MCG),founded at Augusta, had a nifty solution to this problem. In 1852 they purchased one Grandison Harris, for $700 at Charleston, SC. Harris’ “job” was that of RESURRECTIONIST or graverobber. Needless to say these were the bodies of Black folk that Harris snatched from their final resting place. Sometime the MCG would purchase bodies of deceased captives from planters who always needed extra money.
Post- emancipation Harris stayed on at the MGC as a salaried employee. By 1895 he was earning $15 a month as a “janitor.” Harris retired in 1905 with a pension of $10 a month. His son took over his father’s janitorial duties with the College.
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