18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics

by Bruce Goldfarb, Judy Melinek MD (Introduction)

Overview

A captivating blend of history, women in science, and true crime, 18 Tiny Deaths tells the story of how one woman changed the face of forensics forever.

Frances Glessner Lee, born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family in the 1870s, was never meant to have a career, let alone one steeped in death and depravity.

Yet she developed a fascination with the investigation of violent crimes, and made it her life's work. Best known for creating the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, a series of dollhouses that appear charming—until you notice the macabre little details: an overturned chair, or a blood-spattered comforter. And then, of course, there are the bodies—splayed out on the floor, draped over chairs—clothed in garments that Lee lovingly knit with sewing pins.

18 Tiny Deaths, by official biographer Bruce Goldfarb, delves into Lee's journey from grandmother without a college degree to leading the scientific investigation of unexpected death out of the dark confines of centuries-old techniques and into the light of the modern day.

Lee developed a system that used the Nutshells dioramas to train law enforcement officers to investigate violent crimes, and her methods are still used today.

The story of a woman whose ambition and accomplishments far exceeded the expectations of her time, 18 Tiny Deaths follows the transformation of a young, wealthy socialite into the mother of modern forensics...

"Eye-opening biography of Frances Glessner Lee, who brought American medical forensics into the scientific age...genuinely compelling."—Kirkus Reviews

"A captivating portrait of a feminist hero and forensic pioneer." —Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492680475
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	364,740
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

A former EMT/paramedic and a nursing school dropout, Bruce Goldfarb has written for national and local newspapers, magazines, and web publications. He also wrote and edited several medical texts and reference books. This is his first book of popular nonfiction. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Key Characters ix

Introduction xi

1 Legal Medicine 1

2 The Sunny Street of the Sifted Few 21

3 Marriage and the Aftermath 48

4 The Crime Doctor 70

5 Kindred Spirits 99

6 The Medical School 115

7 The Three-Legged Stool 143

8 Captain Lee 178

9 In a Nutshell 202

10 Murder at Harvard 224

11 The Decline and Falls 246

12 Postmortem 272

A Note from the Author 287

Reading Group Guide 292

Notes 295

Further Reading and Resources 323

Index 329

Acknowledgments 347

About the Author 352

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/23/2019

Journalist Goldfarb takes an eye-opening look in his fascinating biography at the crucial role played by heiress Frances Glessner Lee (1878–1962) in the development of U.S. scientific crime examination. Goldfarb puts Lee’s achievements in perspective by showing how, as recently as the early 20th century, there were no requirements of expertise on the part of the officials in charge of death investigations, who were often inept and sometimes corrupt. In 1929, Lee decided to use her financial resources to reform the system after reconnecting with an old friend, George Magrath, who had studied legal medicine in Europe. In addition to funding Magrath’s research, Lee used her skills at making miniatures to recreate crime scenes in exquisite detail as a teaching tool. Lee became a forceful proponent of death investigations becoming the responsibility of trained medical examiners, in a sustained campaign that included a 1935 meeting with J. Edgar Hoover to educate him about legal medicine. By making use of primary sources, including Lee’s own unpublished memoir, the author more than makes the case for his astonishing proposition that this “decorous grandmother with a preference for brimless Queen Mary hats... was nearly single-handedly responsible for the establishment of legal medicine” in the U.S. Goldfarb’s storytelling gifts will lead readers of insightful true crime to hope he will write more in the field. Devotees of TV’s CSI will have their minds blown. Agent: Tamar Rydzinski, Context Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"An engrossing and accessible chronicle of Frances’s life and the early years of scientific detection." — The Wall Street Journal

"Goldfarb’s unprecedented access to her family’s papers has enabled him not only to paint a full picture of Glessner Lee’s life and background but also to uncover less well-known aspects of her impact on the development of forensic science....Although her career was bedeviled by setbacks, as Goldfarb ably demonstrates, Frances Glessner Lee made a real and lasting contribution to forensic science and medicine." — Science

"Journalist Goldfarb takes an eye-opening look in his fascinating biography at the crucial role played by heiress Frances Glessner Lee in the development of U.S. scientific crime examination...Goldfarb’s storytelling gifts will lead readers of insightful true crime to hope he will write more in the field. Devotees of TV’s CSI will have their minds blown." — Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"18 Tiny Deaths combines elements of women's history and police procedurals in a story that will intrigue fans of both genres." — Shelf Awareness for Readers

"Thorough research helps him paint a captivating portrait of a feminist hero and forensic pioneer. " — Booklist

"Eye-opening biography of Frances Glessner Lee, who brought American medical forensics into the scientific age...genuinely compelling." — Kirkus Reviews

"A culmination of years of historical research using primary sources, including the papers of Frances Glessner Lee herself. It is the story of how one stubborn, intelligent, creative, and self-taught woman could immerse herself in a passion that had immense repercussions in the fields of both medicine and the law… As this absorbing and evocative book will show you, Frances Glessner Lee should be recognized as the matriarch of the modern practice of forensic pathology." — Judy Melinek, M.D., co-author of Working Stiff

"Frances Glessner Lee's dioramas of death have long been objects of fascination; now Bruce Goldfarb, the man who knows them best, has written a definitive account of how they came to be, and of the compelling, complex woman who created them. This book will beguile anyone with an interest in forensic science or the history of crime investigation." — Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession

"Goldfarb’s clearly written and well-researched book is recommended for history and legal studies audiences. " — Library Journal

From the Publisher

12/01/2019

Goldfarb (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Maryland Dept. of Health) pays tribute to Frances Glessner Lee (1878–1962), the patron of medical examiners. In 1929, Lee, a wealthy Chicago native, became reacquainted at age 51 with the Suffolk County, MA, medical examiner when both were hospitalized in Boston. At that time, legal medicine, while established in Europe, was still in its infancy in the United States. Goldfarb covers Lee's life chronologically, showing her devotion to forensic science. At the same time, the author addresses the national development of death investigation science. As Goldfarb points out, there are continuing problems with nonmedical death investigations in the United States. Lee's funded Harvard's Department of Legal Medicine, became the first female police captain in the United States, and built meticulous miniature models of death scenes for investigators to study. VERDICT Goldfarb's clearly written and well-researched book is recommended for history and legal studies audiences. For further reading, suggest Corinne May Botz's The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.—Harry Charles, St. Louis

Library Journal

2019-10-28
The eye-opening biography of Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962), who brought American medical forensics into the scientific age.

As journalist and former paramedic Goldfarb (Health Care Defined: A Glossary of Current Terms, 1997, etc.) explains, coroners, responsible for investigating unexplained deaths, originated in the Middle Ages; in America, they often paid little attention to medical progress. In the 1800s, all were political appointees, often the local undertaker or a party hack who needed a job. Incompetence was universal, and scandals and corruption were commonplace. Observers complained that "the cause of death certified by coroners was so untrustworthy that health department officials testified that the city's vital statistics would be more accurate if death certificates signed by coroners were excluded altogether." Worse, sloppy investigators allowed criminals to escape and often ensnared the innocent. By 1900, only a few large cities required a medical examiner with medical training. The daughter of a wealthy Chicago industrialist, Lee showed little interest in good works until, in her 50s, she spent a long period in a luxury convalescent hospital with George Magrath, an acquaintance and a medical examiner in Boston. A dedicated investigator, he regaled Lee with gruesome tales—generously recounted by Goldfarb—and made no secret of his despair over the state of his profession. Inspired, Lee took up the cause. In 1931, she approached Harvard's president, offering to pay for a chair in legal medicine, the first in the U.S. For the rest of her life, Lee lobbied energetically and spent liberally to reform the coroner system and promote education in death investigation, sponsoring seminars that continue to this day. She died with many honors—Erle Stanley Gardner wrote an obituary—but her battle is far from won. Coroners still serve about half the U.S. population in less than 30 states, and less than a third of those require scientific training.

A genuinely compelling biography.

Kirkus Reviews