18 Tiny Deaths

18 Tiny Deaths: The untold story of Frances Glessner Lee and the invention of modern forensics

Frances Glessner Lee was born into a wealthy family and remanined independently wealthy her entire life.  Because she was a woman she was denied admission to Harvard.  She did not persue formal education further at that time.  She married and raised a family.  In her middle age she talked with an old friend who was a medical examiner.  That conversation led to her interest in forensics and how they were handled at the time.  She studied the current system and found it very unscientific.  She searched for information and understanding of a better system.  She became a very knowledgeable source. She started a library on the subject at Harvard Medical College.  She also contributed a great deal of her own money to a medical science department.  She hosted seminars at Harvard to teach law enforcement modern techniques.  She also created 18  scale models of crime scenes to teach  crime scene observation.

Without formal training in the area of forensics she became interested and learned all she could.  Anyone can look around and find something of interest to explore and expand their own knowledge.