Frances Glessner Lee
Frances Glessner Lee (born March 25, 1878 in Chicago ; died January 27, 1962 ) was an American pioneer in forensic science and the first female police captain in the United States .
Frances Glessner Lee was home raised. Her father was a partner in an agricultural machinery company, a predecessor of International Harvester . Her brother studied medicine at Harvard , but she was not allowed to study. She married attorney Bewett Lee at the age of 19 and had three children with him. The marriage ended in divorce after 16 years.
By the students of her brother George Burgess Magrath, the coroner wanted to be, she developed an interest in forensics. After the death of her brother and parents, she inherited the family fortune. She donated a considerable part of this to Harvard University for the establishment of the first forensics course in the USA and a corresponding specialist library. She made sure that Magrath got the chair and attended his seminars herself. When Magrath died two years later, she took over teaching herself. To this end, she founded Havard Associates in Police Science (HAPS), which offered relevant seminars. To make the lessons vivid, she made 20 miniature dioramas of crime scenes of unsolved murders ( Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death ). In doing so, she worked in the traces relevant for the investigation with great attention to detail. The course participants had 90 minutes to investigate the "crime scene".
On October 27, 1943, Glessner Lee was named Honorary Captain of the New Hampshire State Police , making her the first female police officer in the United States.
After her death, Harvard University initially discontinued the course she had initiated. The miniature dioramas were rescued by a professor, restored and used for police training in Maryland . To this day they are a training object for criminologists and their level of detail is unsurpassed even in comparison to virtual simulations.
Frances Glessner Lee is considered the role model of Jessice Fletcher in Murder is Her Hobby .
literature
- www.spiegel.de: Bloodbath in the Puppenstube, from September 21, 2017, accessed on July 15, 2018
- Build me the house from death, Das Magazin 6/2018, pp. 70–75
- Penelope Bagieu: Undaunted 2: Fifteen portraits of extraordinary women, reproduced, ISBN 978-3956401428 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lee, Frances Glessner |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American forensic scientist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 25, 1878 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 27, 1962 |