Creator of crime scene miniatures gets historical marker

BETHLEHEM, N.H. (AP) - An heiress-turned-forensic science enthusiast who created miniature dioramas depicting actual crime scenes for study has been honored with a historical marker in New Hampshire.

The marker on Route 302 in Bethlehem reads "Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962). 'Mother of Forensic Science.'"

Lee, a Chicago heiress who summered at the Rocks, her family's summer estate in Bethlehem, pursued her passion for criminology in the 1940s-1950s by making the dioramas. Called the "Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death," the dioramas were based on crime scene statements and photos and were used to train homicide detectives.

Nineteen dioramas were featured in an exhibit this year at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Glessner Lee herself was appointed an honorary captain of the New Hampshire State Police in 1943.