"Let the dead rest in peace and not be someones ticket to a fed grant."
Preach it, my friend.
First, the people at the Smithsonian deserve as much respect for their work and effort as possible. This project has nothing to do with getting Federal funding.I hold this team in the highest of regards for their work.
Second, the family of two of the caskets is helping to fund this research and many others donated thier time and expertise in the areas of anthropology, pathology, historic archeaology, etc.
Third, there are legitiment reasons this particular casket was opened. The DC casket was in bad shape, could not have "re-intered" it as it was. There is VERY LITTLE DOCUMENTED on these types of caskets, rarer even to find them uncorrupted such as this young mans.
Also I have to say that I think a 13 yr old boy would think it was cool to have his body used for learning more about him and his life. He seems to have been forgotten, now he will become a part of history at the Smithsonian, where he is treated with utmost respect, until a determination by DC as to where his remains will lie.
It is a shame that this country treats it's dead as something wasting "valuable real estate space". Cemeteries are bulldozed, paved over and completely neglected in every state. The dead deserve as much respect and protection as the living. They also deserve a chance to teach us about ourselves and our history. If part of that respect is to open a casket and study the remains before reburial, then so be it.
Fourth, a trip to the library is not going to teach our young scientist what this opportunity has. There was much learned from this and even more to come.