The Girls in Glass Cases

Exploring the stories of these plexiglass protected monuments

The Victorian Era was undoubtedly the golden age of cemetery art. A moment in time when burials moved from old churchyards to sprawling park like cemeteries with beautiful, and sometimes imposing monuments covering the landscape. A few of these cemeteries, which are close to me in Chicago also host a number of statues of women and girls, protected from the elements in plexiglass cases. Surrounded by urban legends, I would like to tell their true stories, to break the aura of myth that encapsulates them.

Inez Clarke- Graceland Cemetery

The most famous example is that of little Inez Clarke, who passed on August 1st, 1880. Her monument inspired an urban legend that Inez, got caught outside during a thunderstorm and died after getting struck by lightning. Her statue supposedly disappears from her case during rainstorms. The true story is much more sadly standard for the time period. Inez passed from diphtheria. She was born to a teen mother and alcoholic father that abandoned the family when Inez was still a baby. Her mother remarried and that is how Inez gained the last name of Clarke. Visitors often bring toys and wind chimes to the grave as an offering to Inez.

Lulu Fellows- Rosehill Cemetery

Buried in across the city Rosehill cemetery, Lulu was a skilled elocutionist that did dramatic readings of literature and famous speeches. A common practice was to throw money as appreciation for performances, which lives on in people dropping money into her case. She began showing symptoms of typhoid fever a week after her 16th birthday and her death certificate states she succumbed to the illness at the age of 16 years and 18 days on November 23rd, 1883. A mournful epitaph on her monument reads, “Many Hopes Lie Buried Here”.

Frances Pearce Stone- Rosehill Cemetery

The most photographed monument in Rosehill cemetery, this monument marks the grave of Frances and her infant daughter. Frances died after childbirth in 1854, and her infant daughter died shortly after at 8 months old. Originally buried in the city cemetery in modern day Lincoln Park, the bodies and monument were moved to Rosehill in 1861 when the former cemetery was decommissioned. One of the lucky few monuments that was moved before the Great Chicago Fire. There is an urban legend that this is a second monument, and that the first one was on the Lusitania when it sunk. This is easily proven as false, as Frances died nearly 60 years before the sinking.

The Sisters- Wunders Cemetery

This monument of two sisters embracing was commissioned by Marie Raithel in 1906 for her sister Margaret. Marie was laid to rest beside her sister under the same marker in 1930. Most information is unknown about the sisters except for their close bond and the fact that they never married.

And that’s all for the girls in the glass cases! I’m going to be doing some more exploring this weekend and will hopefully have a new article to share with you soon!