DUPREE

MARY DUPREE

JULY 11, 1862

May 25, 1922

A couple of years ago during Halloween week, volunteers dressed in period costumes to play Bloomington residents who had passed away and were buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery.  As they stood next to the gravestone, they retold the story of the life and death of the person.

In this reenactment, the actress retold the story of Mrs. Dupree’s accidental death when she was struck by a car. She is seen in the photo above, mouth agape and horrified, as Mrs. Dupree sees the car barreling toward her at a whopping 12 miles per hour. The accident was reported by the local news:

“Mrs. Anna Dupree, sixty years old, wife of George Dupree, foreman at the Monon railroad shop in Bloomington, died last Thursday night of injuries suffered when she was struck earlier in the evening by and automobile driven by James Flynn, living 5 miles east of the city.  She attempted to dodge another car and stepped in front of Flynn’s machine.  Flynn was arrested, but release after it was learned that the accident could not be averted.  Mrs. Dupree is survived by the husband and daughter, Mrs. Jessie Mercer.”

In 1922, 14,859 people were killed in car accidents that year, Mrs. Dupree was sadly one of them.  In the last data that was collected and reported—2023—over 40,000 deaths were due to car accidents.  According to the Center for Disease control, “Fatalities that result from motor vehicle crashes are the second largest cause of accidental deaths in the United States”.  Unintentional poisoning, motor vehicle traffic deaths, and unintentional falls lead the way in accidental deaths.

Be careful out there.