THE BEAUTIFUL SUICIDE



THE BEAUTIFUL SUICIDE

Evelyn Francis McHale (September 20, 1923 – May 1, 1947) was an American bookkeeper who died by suicide by jumping from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. A photograph taken four minutes after her death by photography student Robert Wiles subsequently gained iconic status, being referred to as "the most beautiful suicide".

Early Life And Education

Evelyn McHale was born in Berkeley, California, one of nine children born to Helen and Vincent McHale. Her father was a bank examiner who relocated to Washington, D.C., in 1930. Her mother suffered from undiagnosed and untreated depression. This led to a challenging marriage and ultimately a divorce. Vincent gained custody of all children and moved to Tuckahoe, New York.

Her Career

After graduating from high school, McHale joined the Women's Army Corps and was stationed in Jefferson City, Missouri. She later moved to Baldwin, New York, and was employed as a bookkeeper at the Kitab Engraving Company on Pearl Street. She met her fiance Barry Rhodes, a college student discharged from the United States Army Air Force.

Death

On April 30, 1947, McHale took a train from New York to Easton, Pennsylvania, to visit Rhodes. The next day, after leaving Rhodes's residence, she returned to New York City and went to the Empire State Building where she jumped from the 86th-floor observatory, landing on top of a parked car. A security guard was reportedly standing approximately 10 feet (3.0 m) from her just before she jumped.

Rhodes did not notice any indication of suicidal thoughts before McHale left. Detective Frank Murray found her suicide note in a black pocketbook next to her neatly folded cloth coat over the observation deck wall. The note read:[6][8]

I don't want anyone in or out of my family to see any part of me. Could you destroy my body by cremation? I beg of you and my family – don't have any service for me or remembrance for me. My fiance asked me to marry him in June. I don't think I would make a good wife for anybody. He is much better off without me. Tell my father, I have too many of my mother's tendencies.

Her body was identified by her sister, Helen Brenner. In accordance with her wishes, McHale was cremated with no memorial, service, or grave.

Barry Rhodes became an engineer before moving south. He died unmarried in Melbourne, Florida, on October 9, 2007.

Her Legacy

The photo of her body, taken by Robert Wiles, was published in Life magazine. It has been compared to the photograph by Malcolm Browne of the self-immolation of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức, who burned himself alive at a busy Saigon road intersection in 1963; both are widely regarded as being among the most iconic suicide photographs. Ben Cosgrove of Time praised the photo as "technically rich, visually compelling and ... downright beautiful", describing her body as "resting, or napping, rather than ... dead" and appearing as if she is "daydreaming of her beau".

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