Murder in a Nutshell: Francis Glessner Lee Story

Frances Glessner Lee was an unlikely crime-fighting grandmother and her dystopic dollhouses took the criminal justice world by storm in the 1930s and 1940s. Despite strong gender biases to leave police work to men, Lee became a pioneer in the new field of forensics - forever changing the course of history.

Duration: 57 minutes and 9 seconds

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About Murder in a Nutshell: Francis Glessner Lee Story:

The enigmatic and ever mysterious, Frances Glessner Lee, is affectionately revered as the Patron Saint of Forensics.

But outside the criminal justice system, very few people know she was one of the greatest crusaders for criminal justice of all time.

Despite the fact that women were not widely accepted in the realm of science and criminology in the 1930s, Lee established the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard to elevate law enforcement to a scientific level.

Interestingly, at the same time, women weren't allowed to attend Harvard.

Through interviews with her family, employee, biographers, historians, forensic experts, Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story explores Lee's odd, isolating childhood, scandalous divorce, tumultuous career as a criminalist.

This includes the creation of her legendary Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death - dollhouse crime scenes.