Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2004. Mattie was two years old and as you can see full of energy, smiles, and fun. Mattie just loved his trains and would set up tracks and trains anywhere... the tables, the floor, etc!!! At one time our home was filled with lots of activity and toys, and I will never forget the awful feeling when this energy was taken from our home. Not because Mattie got older and became a teenager, but because he died from cancer.
Quote of the day: One person caring about another represents life's greatest value. ~ Jim Rohn
Now you may think this whole notion is macabre, but if you like crime drama, or like reading murder mysteries, this exhibit is for you. In fact, I passed at least four people today in the exhibit who truly put their sleuth hats on to try to piece together the story behind the visual nutshell crime scenes on display. I actually loved listening to a few people and one duo even included me into their discussion. I am a HUGE Columbo fan, so this exhibit was really right up my alley.
As the Washington Post mentioned in their "Can you solve this grisly dollhouse murder" article..... the grisly dioramas made by Frances Glessner Lee look like the creations of a disturbed child. A doll hangs from a noose, one shoe dangling off of her stockinged foot. Another doll rests in a bathtub, apparently drowned. A third lies in bed peacefully … except for her blood-splattered head. There’s no need to call a psychiatrist, though — Lee created these works in the 1940s and ’50s as training tools for homicide investigators. Lee, who died in 1962, called her miniatures “nutshell studies” because the job of homicide investigators, according to a phrase she had picked up from detectives, is to “convict the guilty, clear the innocent and find the truth in a nutshell." She became the first female police captain in the country, and she was regarded as an expert in the field of homicide investigation. When Lee was building her macabre miniatures, she was a wealthy heiress and grandmother in New Hampshire who had spent decades reading medical textbooks and attending autopsies. Police departments brought her in to consult on difficult cases, and she also taught forensic science seminars at Harvard Medical School, Atkinson says. Lee painstakingly constructed the dioramas for her seminars, basing them on real-life cases but altering details to protect the victims’ privacy.
It's hard to see the details (of which there are MANY) but for example.........
1. Lee used red nail polish to make pools and splatters of blood.
2. Lee crocheted the tiny teddy bear near the fallen chair, so that future investigators might wonder how it landed in the middle of the floor.
3. The pattern on the floor of this room has faded over time, making the spent shotgun shell easier to find.
4. Lee knit the bureau runner and sewed the toy chairs on it in this exact state of disarray.
5. The bedroom window is open. Could it be a sign of forced entry?
The exhibit was fascinating, not to mention so was the life of Frances Lee. You come away from this exhibit asking...... what kind of life did she lead? Why was she so fascinated by murder and the investigation process? In fact, I would say the exhibit left you with more questions than answers. They did a good job displaying the dioramas and sign posting information about the case being depicted. What the exhibit fell short on was..... application! How have Lee's dioramas transformed the modern day investigation process? Walking us through one example would have been helpful. Instead, I had to come home and do research to find out that investigators even today use dioramas. Because you don't want a first time investigator seeing a real crime scene without preparation. The nutshells provide training on observational skills and critical thinking. As Lee would most likely say.... It’s not about solving the case. It’s about knowing the systematic approach. The beauty of this exhibit is the viewer has the opportunity to become a first time investigator.... where we look in on a crime scene and are given minimal information. The creativity to solve the crime now falls into our hands, and frankly I noticed two different patterns of attendees. Those who immediately came up with scenarios and hypotheses for what they saw, and then others like me, who tried to take it all in before jumping to conclusions. The exhibit is free and worth a visit.
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