Patron Saint of Forensics - Frances Glessner Lee (Repost)

I wrote the following about Frances Glessner Lee - aka Fanny - the creator of the dollhouse scenes of death. Without her, we wouldn't have a story to tell,  films to make. It's an honor to work on so many projects about Fanny - a woman who didn't want criminals to get away with murder and any wrongful death to be in vain.

Nothing and everything in Lee’s background prepared her for the role of a crime-fighting granny. Born in 1878, a wealthy Chicago heiress to the International Harvester fortune. Her parents believed that education was wasted on women, so Lee never received the formal education she craved. For most of her life she was paralyzed in the role of wife, mother, and socialite. Lee’s passions were elsewhere -  in academia, science, law and medicine. In other words, a man’s world.

In the 1930s, a family friend made Lee aware of the countless murders that went undetected and unsolved because evidence was either mishandled, misinterpreted or ignored. It was as if the dead were talking to Lee, urging her to speak for them. Lee took an active interest as a pioneer in the new emerging arena, “Legal Medicine” which would later be re-named “Forensics.”

Lee developed a vision for training every detective to take both scientific and medical evidence into account while solving crimes. To do so, she co-opted a feminine past time – creating miniatures – into a crime-fighting tool for (male) detectives to challenge their abilities to interpret evidence. Ironically, her creation of dollhouses is exactly what catapulted her into a revered role in the masculine realm.

Lee’s legacy lives on through the Nutshells and the Harvard Associates in Police Science (HAPS), an ongoing detective training seminar she developed in the 1940s. Almost 70 years later, Lee’s dollhouses are still relevant training tools because all the latest technological advances in forensics do not change the fact that crime scenes can be misread, and then someone will literally get away with murder.

Frances Glessner Lee Withdrawal?

 

Now that the exhibit at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery is over you may be asking yourself, "What next? I was just starting to get into the Nutshells and now what?" 

                                   

I know exactly how you feel. That's how I felt when I read about the Nutshells for the first time in a magazine article about interesting collections. I had to wait three more years for the book The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death to be published. While I loved the book, it wasn't enough. I wanted to know more.

                                      

Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshells haunted me for years. So much so that I found myself visiting the home of the Nutshells - the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner - and making a case for filming the Nutshells for a documentary - Of Dolls & Murder.

                                 

You would think making a documentary film would have satisfied me but no. My filmmaking partner and I unearthed some new information about Frances Glessner Lee and this set a new journey in motion - another documentary film, Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story. We are close to being finished with it. (More funding would be amazing!) But that doesn't do you any good right now, does it? Because you are, perhaps, haunted too. 

                                

So I have a few recommendations for you: Do like I did and start your own Frances Glessner Lee/Nutshell project. Get creative! Do something that hasn't been done before. Try to solve all the Nutshell cases. Write your own fan fiction. Maybe you will be the one to write the definitive biography? There are several books in the works about Frances but who knows when or if they will ever be published, so if you want to write about her - you should! Or perhaps you want to make your own Nutshells - like artist Cynthia von Buhler. (Photo below is a model of her grandfather's speakeasy around the time of his murder.)


                                

I wrote an award-winning screenplay about Frances and it was so satisfying to explore her life in a semi-fictional way. I also wrote a TV pilot and it turned out better than I could have ever imagined. (More news about this coming in 2018?)

                                        

Are you the adventurous Nutshell enthusiast? You could go on the Frances Glessner Lee tour! See her historic home in Chicago, her other home at the Rocks in Bethlehem, New Hampshire and while you're there, pay your respects to Frances's final resting place and go to the Bethlehem Visitor Center to see the missing Nutshell. 

Visit Harvard and check out some of her papers at the Countway Library. Make an appointment at the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to see the Nutshells in person.  She lived part-time at the Ritz-Carleton in Boston. What a great road time it would be!


                                    

Or perhaps you are more of a passive Nutshell enthusiast? Buy the Of Dolls & Murder DVD, so you can own all the DVD extras including an interview with John Waters and filmmakers's commentary. 

                                     

Check out Season Seven of CSI for the Nutshell-inspired plot of the Miniature Serial Killer. A BUNCH of people have mentioned to me that there is an episode of Father Brown that has a dollhouse murder in it - but wow, I watched two seconds of that show and found it unwatchable - so watch at your own risk. There are several podcast about Frances and thousands of articles, like this one that came out today.

There's an event coming up at the Glessner House to celebrate Frances's 140 birthday. It sounds pretty cool, so I don't even mind that they borrowed the title from our film for their event.

I hope this helps you get your Nutshell on and keep Frances's story alive. And keep checking back for updates.

Documentary Films on Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies

If you are interested in purchasing the Of Dolls & Murder DVD, go here.  It includes the film, a John Waters interview, an extra on Frances Glessner Lee and filmmaker's commentary.

Our follow up documentary film on Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story isn't finished yet. Fingers crossed for more funding so we can cross the finish line!

We also made a short film about Cynthia von Buhler who was so inspired by Frances Glessner Lee that she created her own dollhouse crime scene (and play) to solve the murder of her grandfather. You can buy the DVD for Inside the Speakeasy Dollhouse here.
 

Dream about Frances Glessner Lee

About a week ago I had a dream that Frances Glessner Lee was alive and she gave me the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death and said, "Make more. We're not done yet."

I woke up thinking there's definitely work to be done.

Years ago I had a dream that FGL was smiling at me. She wasn't big on smiling, so it made me feel like I was doing something right by her.

Frances Glessner Lee on CBS Sunday Morning January 14, 2018

Erin Moriarty of CBS Sunday Morning interviewing filmmaker Susan Marks about her films on Frances Glessner Lee

CBS Sunday Morning's Erin Moriarty at the Murder is Her Hobby exhibit at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery

CBS Sunday Morning crew films the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death

Fresh conservation treatment for the Nutshells. Photo by Susan Marks

Filmmaker Susan Marks and one of her favorite Nutshells- Dark Bathroom

Recently I was interviewed about Frances Glessner Lee for CBS's Sunday Morning tv show at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery in DC. This is my 2nd time on the show. The first time was 12 years ago when I was interviewed about my book and documentary film on Betty Crocker. Wow, how things have changed. Even though I much prefer to be behind the camera, the CBS folks were phenomenal and made it an enjoyable experience.

Frances Glessner Lee is Having Her Moment

I can only imagine what Frances Glessner Lee would think of an exhibit at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery devoted entirely to her and her Nutshells Studies.

Actually, I can imagine. She would think, great, it's about time. People need to know the importance of the art of observation in criminal investigations and how forensic investigation needs high standards, protocol and procedures. But then she would probably inquire to when the Nutshells would be returned to their home so they could be used for their intended purpose - to train detectives to be better at their jobs.

If you haven't been to the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery to see Murder is Her Hobby - you must go before the end of January 2018. Because if you don't see the Nutshells there, you will likely never see them in person again. They are just too fragile to travel again, so once the Nutshells are safely back at the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner - there they will stay.

The exhibit is nothing short of phenomenal. The curator Nora Atkinson and conservator Ariel O'Connor are brilliant and Frances Glessner Lee would very much approve of the work they did on the exhibit.

Frances Glessner Lee documentary filmmaker Susan Marks (L) with Renwick curator Nora Atkinson (R)

Barn Nutshell photographed by Frances Glessner Lee's great granddaughter - Gail Batchelder

I've been lucky enough to go to the exhibit twice. Once to screen a special "Renwick Cut" of our film on Frances Glessner Lee. See trailer below. It was thrilling to have a special screening just for the crowd at the Renwick Gallery. And my filmmaking partner and I would love to show it to the world but first we need more funding to put the finishing touches on the film. Please be in touch if you want to help!




                    

Of Dolls & Murder DVDs running out

We still have 50 or so DVDs of Of Dolls & Murder left.  (And about 100 of Inside the Speakeasy Dollhouse) and once we're out, we're permanently sold out.  Get yours here.

 Many people have asked about when the new documentary film Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story will be available on DVD and we really don't know that it will be. It's hard to know because we don't have a distribution deal yet and more and more, the demand is for digital downloads and not DVDs.

We will keep you posted and be sure to catch a segment on Frances Glessner Lee on CBS's Sunday Morning in January 2018! And check out the exhibit Murder is Her Hobby at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery - the only time the Nutshell Studies will be on public display.