Chip Chick
Using her miniature figurine-making skills in the 1940s, Frances created a series of 19 impeccably detailed miniature crime scene dioramas for students to use in classes called ‘Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.’
These dioramas were very precise and represented real and challenging crime scenes that helped students try and analyze what happened without messing up any evidence. They quickly became one of the most powerful training tools for future criminal investigators and are still used in many training seminars today.
After the Nutshells were deemed a great success, Frances was made a captain in the New Hampshire State Police in 1943, making her the first woman in America to have the title.
Some of Frances’ dioramas can be seen at the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and were also part of a famous exhibit at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Frances passed away in New Hampshire in 1962 at 83 years old. Her work was brilliant, and her impact will always be tremendous on the forensics community.
If true crime defines your free time, this is for you: join Chip Chick’s True Crime Tribe
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