“A warehouse of homicide…” With these words Orson Welles introduced his radio show “Tales from the Black Museum”. The Crime Museum, (aka the Black Museum) is a training collection located in New Scotland Yard, which is closed to the public. It contains objects connected to crimes dating back to the nineteenth century. The collection includes death masks, poisons, evidence from the crimes of Dr Crippen, the Krays, Neville Heath, Thomas Cream and John Christie. In the early twentieth century special guest visitors included Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini and one visitor who would later feature in the museum’s collection…
The museum details the methodology of how crimes are committed and investigated, including developments in forensics and technology, from the first conviction for murder using a fingerprint in 1905 to a recreation of a crime scene in miniature.
In this talk Clare Smith will talk about the founding and purpose of the museum, look at a selection of the infamous cases that are part of the collection and consider how the museum has appeared in popular culture. This talk will also look at the challenges of interpreting and caring for a collection that can include everything from weapons to a violin.
CLARE SMITH
Dr Clare Smith is the Curator of the Metropolitan Police Museum. Clare has over twenty years of museum experience. Her PhD examined the cinematic depiction of Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders. Clare has published on masculinity and gender in cinema and depictions of victims and detectives on screen.
