Museums & Collections | August 11, 2015

Day of the Dead at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology highlights the holiday on November 1.

by Nell Porter-Brown

From The September-October 2015 Issue

Masks, mariachi music, and sugar skulls at Harvard’s Peabody Museum
Roger D. Metcalf/Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

Celebrating Day of the Dead at Harvard
Roger D. Metcalf/Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)—when families and friends remember and commune with their lost loved ones—is an annual spiritual celebration in Mexico and parts of Latin America. The concept originated with the Aztecs and now combines aspects of Mesoamerican beliefs and rituals with Catholic traditions, especially those enacted on All Saints’ Day. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology highlights the holiday on November 1 with its own Día de los Muertos family event featuring Mexican folk dances, live mariachi music, sugar-skull decorating, and traditional snacks like pan de muerto (bread of the dead).

Traditionally, the holiday is marked by visits to cemeteries to decorate graves and sometimes to sing, play music, and dance. In homes, families adorn altars with photographs of the deceased as well as with the objects and foods they loved, flowers, incense and candles, and religious imagery. The Peabody has its own permanent altar that holds items from the Melvin collection of Mexican folk art; visitors on November 1 may contribute to a separate communal altar that will remain on display for one month.

Published in the September-October 2015 print issue under the headline “Day of the Dead,” in the Harvard Squared section.

You might also like

A vase of yellow flowers on a table next to an orange and a glass.

Harvard Art Museums restores a rare glimpse of an American master.

A photograph of the inside of the From Iran exhibit at the Harvard Peabody Museum

Tk tk Iran

Artist Azadeh Akhlaghi reconstructs moments of Iranian political upheaval in a series of meticulously staged images.

Label showing the anatomy of a worker bee, featuring a detailed illustration.

Science and art capture the microscopic natural world.

Most popular

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.

Caricature of a young man in front of red doors, wearing a green striped sweater.

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

Red brick building with large windows and greenery, set against a bright blue sky.

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

Explore More From Current Issue

A busy classroom filled with students working at computers, colorful decor, and a bright atmosphere.

Technology

In 2004, a frenzy spread across Harvard Yard in days. Four billion users later, we are only just catching up.

A flooded office scene with computers, a woman working, and a pink sunset backdrop.

Undergraduate Column

A College student’s attempt to recapture the romanticism of the workplace.

A glowing bulb shape surrounded by colorful, swirling energy lines against a blue background.

Research

Harvard researchers achieve medical breakthroughs in cancer therapy and infection control.