A Eulogy for Jane Doe

A Eulogy for Jane Doe is a multimedia project that honors the lives of hundreds of women whose bodies remain unidentified in the United States each year. These women–referred to as Jane Does–were the victims of murder and other heinous crimes.

Photographs of objects found on ten Jane Does were pulled from several FBI and DNA databases. This source material was transformed by commissioning a series of illustrations of the women’s objects. The haunting yet tender nature of these illustrations was the provocation for ten poets to write eulogy poems celebrating the lives of these women. The project participants and audience have been spared the graphic nature of crime scene and morgue photography and unless requested, the manner of homicide was not disclosed to the poets.

By imagining who the Jane Does may have been, the poets seek to give the women back a story, knowing it will never replace the one taken from them.

A Eulogy For Jane is a project of both collective mourning and celebration. It bears witness to and acknowledges egregious brutality while also striving to transform forensic objects from evidence of tragedy to evidence of simple moments of meaning and beauty.

***Amalia is working to expand the project to incorporate grief music and movement from around the world.