{"id":10582,"date":"2012-04-23T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-04-23T08:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/?p=10582"},"modified":"2012-04-23T09:00:01","modified_gmt":"2012-04-23T08:00:01","slug":"frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Frances
Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained
Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
<p>
  As I shifted about on my wooden chair in the makeshift cinema at the <a
  href=\"http:\/\/www.thehorsehospital.com\/\">Horse Hospital<\/a> to watch
  Susan Marks&#8217; documentary <a title=\"Of Dolls and Murder\"
  href=\"http:\/\/www.ofdollsandmurder.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong
    >Of Dolls and Murder<\/strong><\/a>, I wasn&#8217;t expecting to find
    material for a BadRep post. While I was pretty certain it was going to flick
    my &#8216;uncanny&#8217; and &#8216;macabre&#8217; switches (it did), I
    wasn&#8217;t expecting much on the feminist front. But this absorbing,
    gruesome documentary is a tribute to the remarkable woman who created the
    mysterious &#8216;Nutshells&#8217;.<\/p>\n
    <p>
      <iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vuWU0Lefwzs\"
      frameborder=\"0\" width=\"500\" height=\"284\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      The &#8216;Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death&#8217; are intricately
      designed dioramas on a 1 inch to 1 foot scale. Each detailed dollhouse
      from hell represents a crime scene composite of several real-life court
      cases. They were created in the 1930s to help train police in the art of
      forensic investigation by <a title=\"Wikipedia\"
      href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Frances_Glessner_Lee\"
      target=\"_blank\"><strong
        >Frances Glessner Lee<\/strong><\/a>, a millionaire heiress who seems to
        have been more interested in forensic science than ladylike
        accomplishments and society balls. She used her inheritance to found
        Harvard&#8217;s Department of Legal Medicine, and was awarded the
        honorary title Captain of the New Hampshire State Police.<\/p>\n
        <p>
          In an article for <a title=\"Harvard\"
          href=\"http:\/\/harvardmagazine.com\/2005\/09\/frances-glessner-lee-html\"
          target=\"_blank\"><strong
            >Harvard Magazine<\/strong><\/a>, Laura J Miller explores
            Glessner&#8217;s background:<\/p>\n
            <blockquote>
              <p>
                \u201cFanny\u201d was a sheltered and indulged child, raised in
                a household that epitomized the aesthetic and moral ideals of
                nineteenth-century domesticity&#8230; Architecturally, the house
                embodied a cherished conceptual divide of the period: between
                the distinctly masculine public realm and the private, feminine,
                interior. Fanny and her brother were educated at home. He went
                on to Harvard; she married a young attorney, Blewett Lee, at 19.
                The couple had three children and at first appeared happy, but
                Glessner Lee eventually received a divorce. Their son attributed
                the failed marriage partly to her \u201ccreative urge coupled
                with high manual dexterity &#8211; the desire to make things
                &#8211; which [Lee] did not share.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
              </p>
              <p>
                This manual dexterity was extraordinary &#8211; Glessner
                reputedly used sewing needles to knit stockings for some of the
                figures in her ghoulish scenes \u2013 and her attention to
                detail endlessly impressive: she even attended autopsies to
                ensure the dolls she was creating were accurate. As Miller
                explains:<\/p>\n
              </p>
              <blockquote>
                <p>
                  Although the crimes depicted in the Nutshells were composites
                  of actual cases, the character and decoration of the
                  dioramas\u2019 interiors were Glessner Lee\u2019s invention.
                  Many display a tawdry, middle-class d\u00e9cor, or show the
                  marginal spaces society\u2019s disenfranchised might inhabit
                  &#8211; seedy rooms, boarding houses &#8211; far from the
                  surroundings of her own childhood. She disclosed the dark side
                  of domesticity and its potentially deleterious effects: many
                  victims were women \u201cled astray\u201d from the cocoon-like
                  security of the home &#8211; by men, misfortune, or their own
                  unchecked desires.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
                </p>
                <p>
                  <a
                  href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Frances-Glessner-Lee.jpg\"><img
                  data-attachment-id=\"10586\"
                  data-permalink=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/frances-glessner-lee\/\"
                  data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Frances-Glessner-Lee.jpg?fit=320%2C244&amp;ssl=1\"
                  data-orig-size=\"320,244\" data-comments-opened=\"1\"
                  data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\"
                  data-image-title=\"Frances Glessner Lee\"
                  data-image-description=\"\"
                  data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Frances-Glessner-Lee.jpg?fit=300%2C228&amp;ssl=1\"
                  data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Frances-Glessner-Lee.jpg?fit=320%2C244&amp;ssl=1\"
                  loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-10586\"
                  title=\"Frances Glessner Lee\"
                  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Frances-Glessner-Lee.jpg?resize=288%2C220\"
                  alt=\"Frances Glessner Lee at her worktable with paints and
                  models\" width=\"288\" height=\"220\"
                  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Frances-Glessner-Lee.jpg?w=320&amp;ssl=1
                  320w,
                  https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Frances-Glessner-Lee.jpg?w=300&amp;ssl=1
                  300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 288px) 100vw, 288px\"
                  data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>This is a theme which emerges
                  in Susan Marks&#8217; documentary too. One of the things that
                  makes the Nutshells so disturbing but also so fascinating is
                  the domesticity of the scenes. The flowery curtains, the cans
                  of soup on a kitchen shelf&#8230;<\/p>\n
                </p>
                <p>
                  Something the film&#8217;s contributors repeatedly mention is
                  the way that Glessner Lee was able to document the extreme
                  violence wrought mostly on women, and mostly in their homes:
                  that notorious private, feminine sphere &#8211; &#8216;where
                  they should have been safe&#8217; &#8211; without
                  sentimentality or any attempt to turn away from the truth.
                  With their chintzy, bloody record of domestic violence and
                  prostitution, the Nutshells recognised that the home is not
                  always safe, especially for women.<\/p>\n
                </p>
                <p>
                  Frances Glessner Lee managed to achieve professional
                  recognition and high esteem for her supremely unladylike
                  interest in death, crime, medicine and the law, and it tickles
                  me to think that one way she did this was by turning such a
                  traditionally feminine and often trivialised skill as
                  doll-making and decoration to such a dark and ultimately noble
                  end.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div
                  class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social
                  sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><div class=\"sd-content\">
                </p>
                <ul>
                  <li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener
                  noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-10582\"
                  class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\"
                  href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=twitter\"
                  target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span
                    >Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a
                    rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"
                    data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-10582\"
                    class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\"
                    href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=facebook\"
                    target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span
                      >Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-reddit\"><a
                      rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                      class=\"share-reddit sd-button share-icon\"
                      href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=reddit\"
                      target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Reddit\"><span
                        >Reddit<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a
                        rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                        class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon\"
                        href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=tumblr\"
                        target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on
                        Tumblr\"><span
                          >Tumblr<\/span><\/a><\/li>
                          <li>
                            <a href=\"#\" class=\"sharing-anchor sd-button
                            share-more\"><span
                              >More<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                              class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><div
                              class=\"sharing-hidden\"><div class=\"inner\"
                              style=\"display: none;\">
                              <ul>
                                <li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow
                                noopener noreferrer\"
                                data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-10582\"
                                class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\"
                                href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=linkedin\"
                                target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on
                                LinkedIn\"><span
                                  >LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                  class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow
                                  noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                                  class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\"
                                  href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=email\"
                                  target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this
                                  to a friend\"><span
                                    >Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                    class=\"share-end\"><\/li><li
                                    class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow
                                    noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                                    class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\"
                                    href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/\"
                                    target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to
                                    print\"><span
                                      >Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                      class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
                                      <p>
                                        A millionaire heiress more interested in
                                        forensic science than ladylike
                                        accomplishments and society balls, and
                                        the dollhouses from hell she created to
                                        help solve murder cases, many of which
                                        were domestic.<\/p>\n<div
                                        class=\"sharedaddy
                                        sd-sharing-enabled\"><div
                                        class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block
                                        sd-social sd-social-icon-text
                                        sd-sharing\"><div class=\"sd-content\">
                                      </p>
                                      <ul>
                                        <li class=\"share-twitter\"><a
                                        rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"
                                        data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-10582\"
                                        class=\"share-twitter sd-button
                                        share-icon\"
                                        href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=twitter\"
                                        target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share
                                        on Twitter\"><span
                                          >Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                          class=\"share-facebook\"><a
                                          rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"
                                          data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-10582\"
                                          class=\"share-facebook sd-button
                                          share-icon\"
                                          href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=facebook\"
                                          target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to
                                          share on Facebook\"><span
                                            >Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                            class=\"share-reddit\"><a
                                            rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"
                                            data-shared=\"\"
                                            class=\"share-reddit sd-button
                                            share-icon\"
                                            href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=reddit\"
                                            target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to
                                            share on Reddit\"><span
                                              >Reddit<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                              class=\"share-tumblr\"><a
                                              rel=\"nofollow noopener
                                              noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                                              class=\"share-tumblr sd-button
                                              share-icon\"
                                              href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=tumblr\"
                                              target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to
                                              share on Tumblr\"><span
                                                >Tumblr<\/span><\/a><\/li>
                                                <li>
                                                  <a href=\"#\"
                                                  class=\"sharing-anchor
                                                  sd-button share-more\"><span
                                                    >More<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                                    class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><div
                                                    class=\"sharing-hidden\"><div
                                                    class=\"inner\"
                                                    style=\"display: none;\">
                                                    <ul>
                                                      <li
                                                      class=\"share-linkedin\"><a
                                                      rel=\"nofollow noopener
                                                      noreferrer\"
                                                      data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-10582\"
                                                      class=\"share-linkedin
                                                      sd-button share-icon\"
                                                      href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=linkedin\"
                                                      target=\"_blank\"
                                                      title=\"Click to share on
                                                      LinkedIn\"><span
                                                        >LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                                        class=\"share-email\"><a
                                                        rel=\"nofollow noopener
                                                        noreferrer\"
                                                        data-shared=\"\"
                                                        class=\"share-email
                                                        sd-button share-icon\"
                                                        href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/?share=email\"
                                                        target=\"_blank\"
                                                        title=\"Click to email
                                                        this to a friend\"><span
                                                          >Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                                          class=\"share-end\"><\/li><li
                                                          class=\"share-print\"><a
                                                          rel=\"nofollow
                                                          noopener noreferrer\"
                                                          data-shared=\"\"
                                                          class=\"share-print
                                                          sd-button share-icon\"
                                                          href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/04\/23\/frances-glessner-lee-and-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death\/\"
                                                          target=\"_blank\"
                                                          title=\"Click to
                                                          print\"><span
                                                            >Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                                            class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[639,683,811,812,815,1084,1085,1092,1374,2020,2142,2143,2270,3300],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2xLWb-2KG","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10582"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10582\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}</span
                                                          ></span
                                                        ></span
                                                      >
                                                    </ul></span
                                                  >
                                                </li></span
                                              ></span
                                            ></span
                                          ></span
                                        >
                                      </ul></span
                                    ></span
                                  ></span
                                >
                              </ul></span
                            >
                          </li></span
                        ></span
                      ></span
                    ></span
                  >
                </ul>
              </blockquote>
            </blockquote></strong
          >
        </p></strong
      >
    </p></strong
  >
</p>