We Keep the Dead Close

by Becky Cooper

  2 by a committee of academics: A Visiting Committee is appointed to “report on each school, department or administrative unit at the University. Each committee is typically chaired by an Overseer, and includes as members alumni active in the field and experts from outside Harvard,” “Visiting Committee,” Harvard Medical School website.

  3 split from the Anthro department: “What is HEB?” Department of Human Evolutionary Biology website.

  4 When I spoke to Noreen: Interview with Noreen Tuross in 2017.

  Richard Meadow

  1 This chapter is from interview with Richard Meadow in 2017, unless otherwise noted.

  2 tenure track until 2005: William C. Kirby’s February 2005 annual letter to the faculty.

  3 mandatory retirement age since 1994: The law was passed in 1986, but there was an exemption for tenured professors that expired at the end of 1993: Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 1986, Section 12(d). See also Ending Mandatory Retirement for Tenured Faculty: The Consequences for Higher Education, edited by P. Brett Hammond and Harriet Morgan (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1991).

  4 the numbers were grim: “Though More Women Are on College Campuses, Climbing the Professional Ladder Remains a Challenge,” Brown Center Chalkboard of the Brookings Institute, Mar. 29, 2019.

  5 A recent report produced by a junior member: Ari Caramanica, “Report from the Gender Imbalance in Academia Conversation Group,” Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, May 19, 2019. Caramanica, who produced the report as a College Fellow, said that the Anthropology faculty were very receptive to the suggestions in the report, but she is not sure what they have implemented as official policy. (She has since left Harvard, for reasons unrelated to the report.)

  6 Women were disproportionately selected as head teaching fellows: Caramanica, “Gender Imbalance,” p. 1.

  7 lower publication rates: Caramanica, “Gender Imbalance,” p. 2.

  8 Other studies conducted nationally: These include Dana Bardolph, “A Critical Evaluation of Recent Gendered Publishing Trends in American Archaeology,” American Antiquity 79, no. 3 (2014): 522–540; Scott Hutson, “Institutional and Gender Effects on Academic Hiring Practices,” SAA Bulletin 16, no. 4 (1998): 19–21, 26; and “Gendered Citation Practices in American Antiquity and Other Archaeological Journals,” American Antiquity 67 (2002): 331–342.

  9 took longer to complete their degrees: Caramanica, “Gender Imbalance,” p. 3.

  10 first systematic study of sexual harassment and assault: Kathryn Clancy, et al., “Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault,” PLoS One 9, no. 7.

  11 Other research has shown: M. Sandy Hershcovis and Julian Barling, “Towards a Multi-Foci Approach to Workplace Aggression: A Meta-Analytic Review of Outcomes from Different Perpetrators,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 31 (Dec. 2009): 24–44.

  12 Statistically, the most effective way to decrease sexual harassment: Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev, “Training Programs and Reporting Systems Won’t End Sexual Harassment. Promoting More Women Will.” Harvard Business Review 15 (2017): 607–631.

  13 first African American graduate student: James Gibbs per Seymour, Cora Du Bois, p. 264. Gibbs did not respond to my request for an interview.

  14 current dynamics in academia: E.g., “Are We Commodities?” Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 17, 2010.

  15 “It’s hard to admit you belong”: Interview with Iva Houston in 2017.

  Professor Karkov

  1 Women After All: Mel Konner, Women After All: Sex, Evolution, and the End of Male Supremacy (New York: W. W. Norton, 2015).

  2 “Irv the Perv”: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017; Jill Nash confirmed in 2020.

  3 Sarah Hrdy, DeVore’s first female graduate student: Interviews with Sarah Hrdy in 2017 and 2020.

  4 Kathryn Clancy…credited DeVore: Blog maintained by the Clancy Lab group, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, lee-anthro.blogspot.com, Apr. 26, 2010 post.

  5 stopped short of saying that DeVore: Interview with Kathryn Clancy in 2020.

  6 when we got on the phone: Interview with Mel Konner in 2017.

  7 fictional story inspired by Jane’s murder: Melvin Konner, “Winter in Bolton,” manuscript, edited by John Gardner and L. M. Rosenberg, fall–winter 1981, pp. 1–33.

  8 What animated their ‘vague’: Konner, “Winter in Bolton,” p. 9.

  9 my way to Chris Boehm: Interview with Chris Boehm in 2017.

  10 Jane’s murder as an example: Christopher Boehm, “Gossip and Reputation in Small-Scale Societies: A View from Evolutionary Anthropology,” in The Oxford Handbook of Gossip and Reputation, edited by Francesca Giardini and Rafael Wittek (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), pp. 253–275.

  11 “But you don’t understand, Sergeant”: Konner, “Winter in Bolton,” p. 30.

  The Grand Jury

  1 grand jury convened for Jane’s case: Feb. 3, 1969, per the Grand Jury Summons, Jan. 29, 1969 (CPD file).

  2 Conti, a twenty-nine-year-old: This chapter is from interviews with Richard Conti in 2017 unless otherwise noted.

  3 His wife’s sister had been college roommates: Sally Shankman confirmed this in a 2020 interview.

  4 Harvard exploded at nauseating speed: Harvard Crimson published an excellent day-by-day summary of 1968–1969 at Harvard: “That Memorable Year, 1968–69…,” Harvard Crimson, June 12, 1969.

  5 In February, discussions for the Radcliffe-Harvard merger began: “That Memorable Year, 1968–69…,” see Feb. 22 entry.

  6 talks about co-ed living arrangements: “That Memorable Year, 1968–69…,” see Feb. 5 entry.

  7 degree-granting program in Afro-American Studies: Approved on Apr. 22, 1969, see “African and African American Studies at Harvard: Historical Sources,” Harvard Library website.

  8 came to a head in early April: See, e.g., “Echoes of 1969,” Harvard Magazine, Mar.–Apr. 2019.

  9 “We felt that we would be the equivalent of the good Germans”: Interview with Carol Sternhell in 2014.

  10 mentioned in the fifth demand on that list: “Statements on Both Sides at Harvard: Pres. Pusey,” Boston Globe, Apr. 10, 1969.

  11 noon on April 9, 1969: “On Campus,” Radcliffe Quarterly, June 1969, p. 16.

  12 about seventy students: “Echoes of 1969,” Harvard Magazine, Mar.–Apr. 2019.

  13 The next morning, at dawn: “On Campus,” Radcliffe Quarterly, June 1969, p. 17.

  14 wore visored helmets and wielded batons: Jean Bennett, “Echoes of 1969,” Harvard Magazine, Mar.–Apr. 2019.

  15 ten thousand galvanized people: Ten thousand is conservative. “Harvard Students Occupy University Hall” page of MassMoments website puts the number between ten thousand and twelve thousand.

  16 attendance was less than 25 percent: Ely Kahn, Harvard: Through Change and Through Storm (New York: W. W. Norton, 1969), p. 27.

  17 appointed themselves protectors of Widener Library: Faculty members included Archibald Cox, Donald Fleming, and Herschel Baker (“Shook the University…,” Harvard Crimson, June 12, 1969).

  18 a month earlier informed Karl: Letter from Franklin Ford to CCLK, Mar. 20, 1969.

  19 suffered a minor stroke: “Until the April Crisis…,” Harvard Crimson, June 12, 1969.

  20 “In Winter I hoped for Spring”: Stephen Williams, “The Editor’s Scrapbasket,” Peabody Museum Newsletter, summer 1969, p. 5.

  Spotlight

  1 email from someone at the Boston Globe: Email from Todd Wallack, Apr. 4, 2017, 3:32 p.m.

  2 Wallack had made his career on exposing: “Todd Wallack of the Boston Globe to Receive NEFAC’s 2018 Freedom of Information Award,” New England First Amendment Coalition, Jan. 25, 2018.

  3 bottom in terms of government transparency: “Mass. Agencies Often Limit Access to Records,” Boston Globe, July 18, 2015.

  4 only state that maintains: “Massachusetts Public Records Law among the Country’s Most Restricti
ve,” MuckRock, Oct. 18, 2018. This was even after the new public records law (H4333; the first since the state’s law was enacted in 1973) went into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

  5 quoted Thomas Fiedler: “Mass. Agencies Often Limit Access to Records,” Boston Globe, July 18, 2015.

  6 Todd Wallack told me: Interview with Todd Wallack in 2017.

  The New Suspect

  1 “bumping for Jane”: “Pink Panther” Websleuths post #684, Oct. 9, 2014; “Pink Panther” Websleuths post #707; Feb. 18, 2015; etc.

  2 “I feel obliged as a priest”: Boyd Britton Websleuths post #741, Jan. 15, 2016.

  3 “Unsolved crime threads on WS never die”: “Ausgirl” Websleuths post #701, Nov. 29, 2014.

  4 “This all happened a very long time ago”: Don Mitchell Websleuths post #799, May 12, 2016.

  5 Lee Parsons is due to leave: Letter from Stephen Williams to Hallam Movius, Jan. 20, 1969, found in 998-27-40/14628.2, Hallam L. Movius, Jr. papers, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University.

  6 On the phone, Don sounded: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  The Incense Night

  1 reminded Don of a black walnut tree: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  2 Lee had joined the museum in the fall of 1968: CPD-LP 1, p. 5.

  3 Handsome, but not overly so: Description of Parsons from Don Mitchell (2017) and Richard Rose photos.

  4 “marginal somehow. Just off”: Interview with Bruce Bourque in 2017.

  5 “You’re afraid if he smiled, his face would fall [off]”: CPD-IK, p. 52.

  6 listen to records on his hi-fi set: Interview with Bruce Bourque in 2017.

  7 Don had seen Lee at a few parties: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  8 first incident…November 1968: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017; CPD-DM; CPD-LP 1; CPD-JM 2.

  9 finishing up their meal: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017; CPD-LP 1.

  10 teaching one of Jane’s classes that fall: Jane Britton’s Radcliffe student file; CPD-LP 1.

  11 Don drove everyone over: CPD-DM; CPD-LP 1.

  12 wall-to-wall white shag: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017; Jill Nash response to checking memo (2020); she remembers it as white wool.

  13 size of five or six cigarettes bunched together: Don Mitchell interview in 2017, which tracks with what Lee Parsons told police (CPD-LP 2, p. 20): “They’re about six or eight cylinders that they wrap up in a cornhusk, and you burn the insides.”

  14 on an aluminum ashtray: Jill Nash response to checking memo (2020); CPD-LP 2, p. 37.

  15 burned a hole: Don Mitchell (2017); Jill Nash response to checking memo (2020); CPD-LP 2, p. 36.

  16 “As Richard Pryor would say”…This is too heavy: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  17 she wanted to stay: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017; CPD-LP 1, p. 5.

  18 didn’t think that she would cheat on Jim: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  19 3 a.m. walk home: CPD-JM 2, p. 48; CPD-LP 1, p. 5. (Don thought they left around 4 or 4:30 in the morning: CPD-DM, p. 63.)

  20 worried that Jane had realized, too late: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  The Deluge

  1 a deluge of emails: Emails from Don Mitchell, Apr. 5, 2017, 9:25 p.m.; Apr. 6, 2017, 4:15 p.m.; Apr. 6, 2017, 7:45 p.m.; Apr. 6, 2017, 8:59 p.m.; etc.

  2 “We can take you to 14,000′”: Email from Don Mitchell, Apr. 8, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

  3 “It might cross your mind”: Email from Don Mitchell, Apr. 5, 2017, 9:25 p.m.

  Sleuths

  1 helped moderate a subreddit: reddit.com/r/UnsolvedMysteries.

  2 Alyssa’s voice was warm: Interview with Alyssa Bertetto in 2017.

  3 abruptly left Harvard in 1970: Lee Parsons obituary by Michael Coe.

  4 moved to St. Louis, Missouri: Steven DeFillippo & Lee Parsons v. Lowell Nations D/B/A Nations Roofing Company, Cause No. 407153, Petition, Circuit Court of the County of St. Louis, Missouri, Apr. 10, 1978.

  5 Lee and his wife had divorced: Interviews with Anne Moreau in 2017 and 2020.

  6 he lived there with a man: DeFillippo & Parsons v. Lowell Nations.

  7 ending up in Florida: Letter from Charles D. Barnard to Judge Zebedee Wright re: State of Florida v. Lee Allen Parsons, Oct. 18, 1991.

  8 his last will and testament: Last Will and Testament of Lee Allen Parsons, Broward County Commission 33862, signed Dec. 30, 1992.

  9 He was born in 1950: Public birth records.

  10 Stephen was buried in Woburn, Massachusetts: Last Will and Testament of Lee Allen Parsons.

  The Second Incident

  1 a few weeks after the Incense Night: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  2 Jim was in Cambridge, visiting…Jane had wanted him to see the artifacts: CPD-JM 2, p. 37.

  3 Jane, Jill, and Don all knew there was only one person it could be: CPD-JM 2, p. 37.

  4 once more after the Incense Night: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017; CPD-JM 2, p. 40; CPD-LP 2, p. 11.

  5 talked to him through the door: CPD-JM 2, p. 40.

  6 Don noticed that Jane’s face hardened into a quiet panic: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  7 What happened the night of the incense party, Don wondered: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  8 identified himself by yelling up the stairwell: CPD-JM 2, p. 40.

  9 “I’ll take care of it,” Jane said: Through “turn off my typewriter,” CPD-JM 2, pp. 37–39.

  10 She is putting on quite a show for Lee, Jill thought: CPD-JM 2, p. 20.

  11 Jill peered out of her doorway…all dressed up: CPD-JM 2, p. 40.

  12 Jill wanted to look out the window to be sure: Exchange from CPD-JM 2, p. 20.

  The Cape Lifts

  1 I called Karl: This chapter is drawn from my interview with CCLK in 2017.

  2 I wanted to believe him: I have not yet been able to corroborate that Truman Capote was interested in Jane Britton’s story.

  3 one of Jane’s undergraduate mentors: Interview with Bill Simmons in 2017.

  4 “my father was killed in Auschwitz”: Karl Othmar Von Lamberg, Identification Number 62376, Document Number 41205, Arrest Data from the Vienna Gestapo Reports, per the Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

  5 the vampire’s cape of legend lifted: Recent graduate students were absolutely sure that CCLK used to walk around the Peabody in a cape, but after speaking to dozens of graduate students, whose collective tenure at Harvard spanned decades, I realized that no one ever actually saw him wear one at the museum. (In 2017, CCLK told me he owned one–-his father’s––but he doesn’t remember wearing it to work.)

  The Dead. The Near-Dead. The Just-Dead

  1 In the early-morning hours: This chapter is from CPD-JM 2, unless otherwise noted. Looking back at what she said in 1969, Jill wrote in 2020, “This is all too much of a muchness. If Jane had not been murdered, I would never think this remarkable. The cops pressed us on stuff, and I really didn’t know what they wanted.”

  2 hoping that the ring hadn’t stirred Jill: CPD-DM, p. 4.

  3 as Don walked to the bathroom: CPD-DM, p. 4; Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  4 Well, Jane’s done it again, Don thought: CPD-DM, p. 5.

  5 He hoped that it would work out all right: CPD-DM, p. 5.

  6 Jill heard footsteps: From here to “muffled noises of two men talking,” CPD-JM 1, pp. 4–6.

  7 a large mounting board kept falling off the wall: CPD-DM, p. 6.

  8 Don waited outside: CPD-DM, p. 8.

  9 Jill walked into Jane’s apartment: CPD-JH, p. 11.

  10 call the health service: CPD-JM 1, p. 10.

  11 Don took over: CPD-JM 1, p. 11.

  12 no one could remember the Cambridge Police’s number: CPD-DM, p. 11.

  13 9-1-1 didn’t yet exist in Cambridge: “Boston, Brookline to Dial 911 in Fall to Speed Police Calls,” Boston Globe, Sept. 4, 1972; Cambridge not included in list of co
mmunities that use 911: “Randolph, Quincy Using Emergency No.,” Boston Globe, Aug. 16, 1971.

  14 Don took the book from him: CPD-DM, p. 11.

  15 Don tried to reach Jane’s family: CPD-DM, pp. 13–14 and interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  16 Jim kept repeating, “You should call”: CPD-DM, p. 12.

  17 “Maybe we should take her pulse”: CPD-JM 1, p. 12.

  18 Don began to doubt himself: Here to “when the police were going to show up” from CPD-DM, pp. 12–13.

  19 Don thought about how alive Jane had been: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  20 Don’s memory of Jim Humphries dropped out: Here to ”loosed with sorrow,” interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  21 I heard groans and heaves from grief: Don Mitchell, “Hill Training in Forest Lawn Cemetery,” unpublished.

  22 For the first, and he thinks, only time: Interviews with Don Mitchell in 2017 and 2019. In her 2020 response to the checking memo, Jill Nash said she had no recollection of this: “Don was not demonstrative.”

  Hawaii

  1 Don Mitchell and I sat: This chapter is from interviews with Don Mitchell in 2017 unless otherwise noted.

  2 movies in the Square: In her response to the checking memo, Jill Nash said she did not remember movies or buying records.

  3 [Photo]: Photograph by Don Mitchell.

  4 “If I die, you should marry Jane”: CPD-DM, p. 17.

  5 Jill, I would later find out: Interview with Mary McCutcheon in 2017. In her response to the checking memo, Jill explained that she kept the largest of the three rugs until about three years ago, “when it was so worn in places, I thought it should be recycled.”

  Lieutenant Joyce’s Letter

  1 [Photo]: Letter from Det. Lt. Joyce to Jill and Don Mitchell, Jan. 8, 1979 (MSP file).