  Citation: George, R.L.; Zejdlik, K.; Messer, D.L.; Passalacqua, N.V. The John A. Williams Human Skeletal Collection at Western Carolina University. Forensic Sci. 2022, 2, 362–370. https://doi.org/10.3390/ forensicsci2020026 Academic Editors: Francisca Alves Cardoso, Vanessa Campanacho and Claudia Regina Plens Received: 14 March 2022 Accepted: 31 March 2022 Published: 2 April 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Article The John A. Williams Human Skeletal Collection at Western Carolina University Rebecca L. George , Katie Zejdlik, Diana L. Messer and Nicholas V. Passalacqua * Anthropology and Sociology Department, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723, USA; rgeorge@wcu.edu (R.L.G.); kzejdlik@wcu.edu (K.Z.); dmesser@wcu.edu (D.L.M.) * Correspondence: nvpassalacqua@wcu.edu Abstract: This manuscript serves to introduce The John A. Williams Human Skeletal (JAW) Collection, which is a donated skeletal collection consisting of individuals from the Body Donation Program at Western Carolina University. Full body donors decompose naturally at the Forensic Osteology Research Station (FOREST) before curation within the JAW Collection. As of 31 December 2021, the JAW Collection has 98 skeletal donors and 16 cremated donors. There are also nearly 40 donors within various stages of the decomposition and curation processes. The importance of a willed-body collection such as the JAW Collection is its ability to be utilized in educational efforts for both students and members of the public. Undergraduate students at Western Carolina University learn from our willed-body donors from the initial intake at FOREST through processing and curation within the Western Carolina Human Identification Lab (WCHIL). The JAW Collection also enables a thriving outreach program through continuing education efforts. Courses are offered throughout the year that would not be possible without a donated skeletal collection. Additionally, the FOREST and JAW Collection serve a larger community purpose by offering environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional burials for community members, demonstrating that these collections have a variety of purposes outside of academic research. Keywords: willed-body program; donated skeletal collection; forensic anthropology; biological anthropology 1. Introduction The origins of modern human skeletal collections date back to the early 1900s, with anatomists collecting mostly unclaimed bodies from morgues for anatomical dissection and permanent retention of human skeletons for research purposes, such as documenting and describing age, sex, and perceived racial differences based on the skeleton [1–3]. Recently, there have been increasing discussions about the ethical nature of these historic collections and the continued use of these skeletal remains without donor or family consent [4]. However, most of today’s actively growing human skeletal collections in the United States, many of which are highlighted in the special issue this article is part of, are willed-body collections, where consent is obtained either antemortem from the donor themselves or postmortem from their next of kin. The first willed-body collection to come from a human decomposition facility was established at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After years of consulting with law enforcement regarding the status of human remains recovered from various contexts, Dr. William Bass founded a research center to study human decomposition more formally. The Forensic Anthropology Center was opened in 1981 and was the first of its kind in the world [5]. At the time, it was considered a questionable, macabre science. Acceptance has grown, however, into appreciation with human decomposition facilities increasing in number and sought for experiences in education and training to sustainable postmortem deposition options. There are currently nine human decomposition facilities in the United Forensic Sci. 2022, 2, 362–370. https://doi.org/10.3390/forensicsci2020026 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forensicsci