Don’t let the title creep you out. But, yes. I paid a visit to John Dillinger’s grave in Indianapolis, Indiana. But, before I get to all the details, let me tell you what led to this.
Visiting the John Dillinger Museum
Last year, on our tour of the United States, we visited the Museum at the Lake County Courthouse in Crown Point, Indiana. Once we made it to the museum, we learned so much more than I expected to learn about Dillinger.
My initial interest in him stemmed from the 2009 movie, Public Enemies and the 1995 movie, Dillinger and Capone.
With no apologies, I love a good, old school, gangster movie. And, the fact that he was clever enough to have his fingerprints removed and even have plastic surgery to change his appearance is all very interesting to me, especially during the Depression Era where extensive cosmetic surgery was not as popular as it is today.
According to History, “the doctors gave the gangster a rudimentary facelift, removed several moles and scars, filled in his famous cleft chin and used chemicals to burn off his fingerprints”, only for him to be completely unsatisfied.
Nevertheless, visiting the museum was fascinating. Along with interesting memorabilia and interactive exhibits inside there is also a jail cell that actually opens and closes to represent the fact that the man spent most of his adult life in prison, as well as the fact that he helped bust his fellow gang members out of jail.
Not every exhibit is kid-friendly, but you can read more about it with this post, Visiting the John Dillinger Museum.
This post also contains affiliate links to products mentioned.
Interesting Perspectives
Later on, after posting the initial post, I caught backlash on various media channels. One man on Reddit, in particular, was pretty agressive and felt that I was glorifying a murderer.
How absurd!
I am in no way glorifying a murder or bank robber. Instead, I have exposed my children to what life was like in the 1930’s. Having this knowledge can only help them become more educated individuals.
Eventually, I ended up updating that post with the fact that a few months after we visited the museum, my son had a school project due and guess who was the first person of interest?
Yep, John Dillinger. The 5th grade class had a project to read, Bud, not Buddy and discuss someone from the 1930’s. My son didn’t have very much research to do because we had already visited the John Dillinger Museum.
With his knowledge of Dillinger, he was able to actively engage in meaning conversation while in class and complete the project with ease.
But, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
Visiting John Dillinger’s Grave
In spite of all of that, I randomly came across Atlas Obscura last week and learned that Dillinger was buried in Indianapolis. So, to connect the dots, I located his plot number online and headed on over.
After driving and walking Crown Hill National Cemetery for about an hour, I finally located his family’s plot. I found it rather interesting that visitors left the bank robber quarters.
But, I wasn’t leaving any. I need mine for laundry. Haha!
Anyway, it is said that “Dillinger’s father and brother had the bank robbers body exhumed and reburied under layers of iron and concrete”. This I am not sure about. But, if you are into American gangster history, it may be of interest to you.
If so, Dillinger is buried in Crown Hill National Cemetery (Section 44) , which is the 4th largest cemetery in the United States.
Final Thoughts
As I navigate my way through life, as well as the United States, it has become so interesting learning a little bit about a lot of things and always being able to engage in meaningful conversation.
If you are ever in Indiana and have a thing for American gangster history, I would definitely recommend visiting both, the John Dillinger Museum, as well as his grave.
You may also like to read Visiting Muhammad Ali’s Childhood Home Museum and Grave in Louisville.
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