1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. We mentioned quite recently 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: that an al fALS Bertion episode was coming, and in 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: a shocking turn of events, here it is with very 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: little delay. Yes, unlike so often when it's like four 7 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: years later. If you have noticed that there is also 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: a Bertillon episode in the archives, yes, that's true. This 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: one is not exactly an update. It's got a much 10 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: different focus than that one that talks a lot about 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,559 Speaker 1: his police work and some of the ways he innovated, 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: which we don't talk about much in this one beyond 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: some of the key elements of the Bertillon system. But 14 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: I really wanted to look at his life story a 15 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: little bit more and who he was as a person. 16 00:00:55,400 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: So that's why we are revisiting alfals Bertion. Bertil is 17 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: a man who definitely is a mix of really positive 18 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: achievements and traits and also a whole lot of really 19 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: problematic issues. He's a very complex human. Bertil developed a 20 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: system of identification via body measurements that was designed to 21 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: identify whether crime suspects had an existing criminal history. It's 22 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: just worked sort of. But his contributions to police work 23 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: have kind of been occluded by some terrible missteps he 24 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: made in his career after that. I'm just going to 25 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: tell you upfront, this is one of those episodes where 26 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: there are a lot of parentheticals where we just have 27 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: to point out that there is a threat of racism 28 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: through his entire story. I don't want to detract from 29 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: it by jokingly saying you're going to get a lot 30 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: of this, but just brace for it. It's one of 31 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: those things we're just acknowledging because in a lot of 32 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: cases it doesn't do any good to really dig into 33 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: it and go, here's how this was racist. One thing, 34 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: the very title of it, you will know is super racist. 35 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: So know that going in as we examine Alfonse Bertillon. 36 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: Alphonse Bertillon was born April twenty third, eighteen fifty three 37 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,399 Speaker 1: in Paris, France, and he came from a family of innovators. 38 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: His grandfather, Jean Baptiste Bertignon, served in the military under 39 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: Napoleon Bonaparte before becoming a chemist. In that role, he 40 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: made improvements to the distillation process and invented a sugar 41 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: purification method. Jean Baptiste also invested in one of the 42 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: first gas works in Paris, helping to usher in the 43 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: age of the literal city of lights. Alphonse's father, Louisdolphe Bertillon, 44 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: studied medicine at the Sorbonne, although his true passion was engineering, 45 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: and he sort of combined the two when he realized 46 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: he could measure humans and used that data to compile 47 00:02:52,880 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: statistical tables. Some of these tables were inherently racist. Ui 48 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: Adolf eventually became France's head of vital statistics, and Alphonse's brother, 49 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: Jacques Bertignon followed their father in that role. Alphonse's mother 50 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: was Zoe Guiller Bertillon, who had married Louis Adolf in 51 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty. According to a biography written in the nineteen fifties, 52 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: Zoe had wanted to name their second son Alfred, but 53 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: Louis Adolf had forgotten the name they had chosen when 54 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: he went to register the birth and so incorrectly went 55 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: with Alphonse. That is really quite a charming story in 56 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: that biography, where she's just like okay, fine, like they're 57 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: just really happy about their new baby, who apparently screamed 58 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: a lot. When Alfonse was just a few months old, 59 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: the Bertillons moved away from Paris to Molmoor and See, 60 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: about ten miles or seventeen kilometers north, and this move 61 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: was precipitated by a growing distrust of the science community 62 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: in Paris at the time, as scientific discoveries move the 63 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: populace forward to people behind them were sometimes seen as 64 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: causing unrest. Uh but this move was very good for 65 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: the family for other reasons because being in the country 66 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: seemed to help Alfonse, who had been kind of sickly 67 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: from the time he was born, gain a degree of 68 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: health and level out a little bit in terms of 69 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: his child development. The family stayed at Monmorency for three years, 70 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: and they moved back to Paris in eighteen fifty six, 71 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: settling in on the Rue de Bruze. Alphonse sounds like 72 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: a scamp as a kid. He was a curious child, 73 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 1: but not really interested in structured learning. When he struggled 74 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: in school, his parents hired a tutor for him, but 75 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: he was pretty merciless with this tutor would hide his 76 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: glasses and play tricks on him. Because he had been 77 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: sickly as a small child and still had some health issues. 78 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: He was entirely willing to exploit that to just get 79 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: out of work. When Alphonse was eleven, he was sent 80 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: to a boarding school that special in difficult students. He 81 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,840 Speaker 1: was there for a semester before the Bertignon family received 82 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: a letter that basically said no amount of money was 83 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: worth dealing with Alphonse. As a scholar, he excelled in 84 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: botany and natural history, but he just did not have 85 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: any interest in other subjects. At the same time, the 86 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: family was trying to decide what to do with their 87 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: precocious thirteen year old Zoe Bertillon became gravely ill. Her 88 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: exact illness is unknown. It's been theorized that she may 89 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: have had some sort of bacterial infection that led to sepsis. Alfons, 90 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: his older brother Jacques, and their younger brother George attended 91 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: her deathbed, and Alfonse is said to have fainted in 92 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: the moment that she died. As the family was mourning, 93 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: Luis Adolf had taken the two younger boys to Orno 94 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: la cousadle Bach, near France's border with Andorra. It was 95 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: a place that he and Zoe had spent time when 96 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: they were first married, and there Alphonse got some tutoring 97 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: from his father, who realized that his mental child mostly 98 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: just needed to be challenged by education to engage with it. 99 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: This is something, of course, that is recognized as part 100 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: of a person's learning profile now, but in the mid 101 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: nineteenth century it was often mischaracterized as laziness or a 102 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: lack of focus. I think folks still struggle with being 103 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: branded lazy when that's not really what's going on today. 104 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: But to be clear, Alphonse was stubborn about the whole 105 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: idea of studying things he did not have a natural 106 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: interest in, and this recognition of Alphonse's need for stimulus 107 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,359 Speaker 1: did not result in him becoming a good student or 108 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: having courses tailored to him. Perhaps more than anything else, though, 109 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: this period brought Alphonse and his father much closer. Before 110 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: her death, Zoe had been the parent that Alphonse had 111 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: been close to. But Alfos did have to go back 112 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: to school, and he was eventually enrolled at the Imperial 113 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: Lise at Versailles. This initially seemed like it might be 114 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: a good fit, but all of the same problems arose 115 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: once the newness of that situation had worn off. He 116 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: not only didn't work on his studies, he actively worked 117 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: with some of his friends to disrupt class. Eventually, the 118 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: Imperial Lise sent Louis d'lfberthion a letter very similar to 119 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: the one that he had received from the previous school. 120 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: They had been able to deal with his behavior until 121 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: an incident in which Alfonse, who this sounds wild to me, 122 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: had been secretly making hot chocolate in his desk with 123 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: the spirit lamp for himself and his friends started a fire. 124 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: But then, when he was confronted about it with literal 125 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: smoke coming out of his desk, instead of opening the 126 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: desk and revealing what had gone on, he hit his 127 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: teacher over the head with a book that ended his 128 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: formal education. But this happened just as the Frank Oppression 129 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: War began, so it's also possible his education would have 130 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: been put on hold then. Anyway, he managed, how it 131 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: is unclear, to take and pass the baccalaureate examination in 132 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: science and Literature on his own a couple of years later, 133 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty. Alphonse wanted to sort of 134 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: bask in that accomplishment, but his father wanted him to 135 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: get a job, so much so that Luis Adolf found 136 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: one for him as a junior bank clerk. This went 137 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: about as well as you might think young person being 138 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: pushed into a job by their parent. It's unclear exactly 139 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: how this posting ended for Alphonse. It was a short 140 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: lived situation, though. Next Alfonse was sent to England with 141 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: the hope that some time abroad would mature him, and 142 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: he found London to be a bit alienating. He noticed 143 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 1: immediately that people stared at him just when he was 144 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:53,959 Speaker 1: walking around, and one of his friends, who was also 145 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: French but living in London, explained that it was because 146 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: he dressed like a Parisian and that set him apart 147 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: from the rest of London. He wanted to revamp his 148 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: wardrobe to try to blend in better, but Louis Adolph 149 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: refused to send him money for that, so the normally 150 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: pretty aimless Adolf Bertillon suddenly was hunting for jobs, and 151 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: he landed a position teaching French for very low pay 152 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: at a collegiate school. This was really challenging because he 153 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: didn't really speak English much at all at this point, 154 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: but he did manage. He next moved to a position 155 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: as a private tutor, and he started to suggest to 156 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: his family that maybe after he was done in London. 157 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: He would go to university in England or in Scotland, 158 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: but his father did not want to spend the money 159 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: to enroll him in a university given his education history. 160 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: Al Fose moved on to another job, teaching French and 161 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: London until he was recalled to his home country for 162 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: military service in the ongoing Francoprussian War. In eighteen seventy five. 163 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: He became part of one hundred and thirty ninth Regiment 164 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: stationed in Rome, which is right in between Vichy and Lyon. 165 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: He was moved at some point from an infantry to 166 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: a clerical role, and also decided that when he was 167 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 1: done he would go to medical school, so he started 168 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 1: to use this downtime in the service to study medical texts. 169 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: He became fascinated specifically with the skeleton. In a biography 170 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifty six, author Henry T. F. Rhodes 171 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: states that even at this early point, Bertillon was quote 172 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: devoted to and almost obsessed with a specialized problem. This 173 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: was the dimensions of the human skeleton. That fascination with 174 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: the human skeleton would feed into the way that Bertion 175 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: eventually made a name for himself. But before we get 176 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: to that we'll pause for a sponsor break. After his 177 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: military service, Berthion returned to Paris, and while deciding what 178 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: his next move would be. Because it turned out he 179 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: didn't end up wanting to go to medical school, he 180 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: got typhoid fever and that delayed any plans that he 181 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: may have had in mind. But he may have also 182 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: been starting to panic a little at how far behind 183 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: his brothers and friends he was in terms of a career, 184 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:18,719 Speaker 1: so he asked his father to help him again. Al 185 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: Foals was able to get a job working for the 186 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: police department of Paris as a records clerk with the 187 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: help of his father. He started in that job on 188 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: March fifteenth of eighteen seventy nine, and the twenty five 189 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:32,839 Speaker 1: year old Bertien found that he had walked into a 190 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: mess of disorganized records. One of the biggest problems is 191 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,720 Speaker 1: hard to imagine happening today. Police in France and a 192 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: lot of other parts in the world had a hard 193 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: time knowing if somebody who was brought in on an 194 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: arrest or even sentenced to jail time, had a prior 195 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: criminal record. There were forms that were filled out every time, 196 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 1: but a combination of corruption sloppy practices and lying on 197 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 1: the part of detainee meant that those forms were largely meaningless. 198 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: A lot of this just wound up coming down to 199 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:10,439 Speaker 1: whether a police officer remembered a suspect from a previous offense. 200 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: Adding to that, everybody seemed to include their own set 201 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: of information on any intake documents, and there wasn't a 202 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: set list of criteria that was supposed to be used. 203 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: Before the eighteen thirties, that had been standard practice in 204 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: France to brand criminals, so it was easy to see 205 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:33,439 Speaker 1: if somebody had been arrested before that was finally recognized 206 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: as inhumane and stopped, and nothing had really been developed 207 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:46,679 Speaker 1: to identify repeat offenders in place of this branding, and 208 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: so this is, you know, forty some years later, that 209 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: they're still having all of these problems. After the branding 210 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,719 Speaker 1: was outlawed, thank goodness and al false, Bercielle decided that 211 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: he would just restructure the whole system, and on October first, 212 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy nine, exactly two hundred days from the day 213 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: he began the job, Bertion submitted a report to his boss, 214 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 1: Monsieur Antrieu, the Prefect of Police. This was a preliminary 215 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: version of the system that he would eventually develop, but 216 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: he had devised a way to uniquely identify people in 217 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,599 Speaker 1: a large group through a systematic series of measurements of 218 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: their bodies. Bertillon had figured out a way to plug 219 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: those measurements into formulas that could sort people into various 220 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: groupings of similarities and then make that data accessible and 221 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: searchable in a way that a person could process a 222 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: newly arrested suspect and then check pretty easily to see 223 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: if that person had a prior record. For a very 224 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: simplified example, Bertillon had made an initial sorting of all 225 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 1: the records by head measurements, so you would need to 226 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:51,320 Speaker 1: measure the person in question and then see if you 227 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: needed to look in the cards that were small, medium, 228 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: or large, and so that already eliminated two thirds of 229 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: the possible options. The remaining one third would then be 230 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: separated in a similar way by the next measurement, and 231 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: so on and then so on again, so you might 232 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,439 Speaker 1: arrive at kind of a subdivision of people who had 233 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: the same forearm length from elbowcrease to wrist, all grouped together. 234 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: There would be a card for each of those people 235 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: in a set that match those measurements, and a police 236 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: officer would use that measurement to find the card set 237 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,560 Speaker 1: and then sift through just a couple a dozen cards, 238 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: not all the cards, to see if the same suspect 239 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: had been previously booked or incarcerated. I feel like this 240 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: is sort of a dichotomous key for humans. If anybody 241 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: remembers that from like biology class, additional measurements could be 242 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: searched the same way to cross reference and verify the 243 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: identity of the person at hand. The entire system was 244 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: predicated on Bertillon's realization that no two people would have 245 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: all identical measurements. Uh. I will say this sounds maybe fiddley, 246 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: but it sounded completely cocka mamy to Prefect Andreelle. Also 247 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: that no two people having all identical measurements did come 248 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: back to bite him. We'll get to that. Bercion was 249 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: really disappointed that his superior did not see the functionality 250 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: of this system, so he decided he would further refine 251 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: it over the next six weeks, and then he submitted 252 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: an updated version of the report, hoping that this time 253 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: it would convince Andreau of its value. This time, he 254 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: was told very clearly the police had an established record 255 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 1: keeping method and it was fine. And in response, Alfonse 256 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: Bertillon told his superior that the system was actually a 257 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: mess and of little practical use. It probably went over 258 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: really well, but because he was a new clerk who 259 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: had no prior experience in the field, he was told 260 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: to simply drop it. And because his father had been 261 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: the one to get him that job, Louis Adolph Bertillon 262 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: got another letter about his son, this one suggesting not 263 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: that he was unfocused or high spirited like the ones 264 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 1: he had received when Alfonse was in school. This one 265 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: suggested pretty bluntly and kind of grossly that there might 266 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 1: be something actually wrong with Alphonse, mentally like maybe your 267 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: kids should get treatment. But once Alfalse showed his father 268 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: what he had been working on, the Elder Bertion totally 269 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: understood it, and he had some insights into why other 270 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: people might not. Initially, this combination of statistics with physiological 271 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: analysis had never been used in quite this way. It 272 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: was complex, but it did really make it possible to 273 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: find existing information about a person if they were in 274 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: the records, and to build up his database of cards, 275 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: which got pretty large. Bertion had visited prisons and took 276 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: measurements of inmates as well as taking the measure of family, 277 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: friends and associates, so he had a pretty big data 278 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: set that he could show, hey, look this works. This 279 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: use of anthropometry not just the measuring of the human 280 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 1: but the study of those measurements was not a new concept. 281 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,400 Speaker 1: It's still used for a variety of applications today. It 282 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: is a study that has a lot of problematic issues 283 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,880 Speaker 1: in its history because often the data collected had been 284 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,200 Speaker 1: used to try to make connections about race and behavior. 285 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 1: The pseudosciences of phrenology and physiognomy are based on it, 286 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,320 Speaker 1: and there have been many, many, many anthropologists over the 287 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:32,679 Speaker 1: years who have announced incorrect, generalized conclusions about groups of 288 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: people using anthropometry as their evidence. Today this is mostly 289 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,400 Speaker 1: used for things like designing seats for cars and airplanes, 290 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,159 Speaker 1: for things like clothing size for manufacture. But in the 291 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties, Bertanil was not trying to use interpretive analysis 292 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 1: to suggest that people with measurement X were more likely 293 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: to commit a certain type of crime, although the system 294 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: did get used that way by some police departments. We 295 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: have talked about that on the show recently. He was 296 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: just trying to show that no, two people would have 297 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,440 Speaker 1: the exact same data set, and that if you set 298 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 1: up a system correctly, you could use their unique profile 299 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: to search for them in a big system. This also 300 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,200 Speaker 1: has some problems to talk about in a bit. They're 301 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: different problems though than trying to say that you can 302 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: tell whether somebody is a criminal by what their head is, 303 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: Like yeah, and he even said as much in an 304 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,719 Speaker 1: interview with prior podcast subject Ida Tarbell at one point 305 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:31,920 Speaker 1: like no, no, no, that's not what this is for. 306 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: You cannot make the connection that like a man with 307 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: blue eyes will do X, Y or z, Like this 308 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,680 Speaker 1: is literally just to find people, although he was also 309 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,439 Speaker 1: aware that people were going to make those jumps, and 310 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 1: although Alphos's organizational system was not getting any recognition at work, 311 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: with his father's encouragement, he continued to refine it on 312 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: his own time. He had a growing collection of measuring tools, 313 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: and he made continuously updated records of himself and other volunteers. 314 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: The list of measurements eventually included the length and width 315 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: of the head, the length of the middle finger, the 316 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:07,639 Speaker 1: length of the left foot, and the length of the 317 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: forearm from elbow to the end of the middle finger. 318 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: There were also notes recorded of body shape, any scars, tattoos, 319 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: or other unique identifiers, eye color, hair color, and it's 320 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: listed as like hair quality. It sort of comes down 321 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 1: to like hair texture and like is it thick, is 322 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: it thin? Is it curly? Is it not. He also 323 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: included a fairly new technology, which was photography. We've talked 324 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: about the history of photography many times on the show before, 325 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 1: so this is not really new information. The de geratype 326 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: was introduced in eighteen thirty nine, four decades before this 327 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: work by Bertillon, and in those four decades it had 328 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: progressed considerably. It still was pretty new though. The first 329 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: mass market camera was still about ten years away, and 330 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 1: there was already photography in use in police precincts, but 331 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: it wasn't really commonplace. Bertil felt that his measurement system 332 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,360 Speaker 1: would be even more useful if he could attach standardized 333 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 1: photos to the records. He established measured distances from the 334 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: chair that the subject was seated into the camera, and 335 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: the full front and full side angles they would be 336 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: photographed from. This system, known as portrait parlai, is considered 337 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: the invention of the mug shot. If you've ever seen 338 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,360 Speaker 1: old mugshots, from Europe in particular, in which there were 339 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: what looked like rulers and calipers and things like that 340 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: to position the subject's head. That's because they're using the 341 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: bertail age system, or a variation of it. He had, 342 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,360 Speaker 1: in the meantime, not for this work, gotten a promotion 343 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,360 Speaker 1: from being a junior clerk, but he was still kind 344 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: of used as a pain in the neck and an 345 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: outsider within his department. He did his job and was 346 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,200 Speaker 1: apparently pretty good in terms of work ethic, but he 347 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,120 Speaker 1: did not really make any friends at the police department. 348 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: But he was befriended by a young woman by chance. 349 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: When crossing the street one day, she asked him if 350 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: he would help her cross because she was nearsighted and 351 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: she was afraid of traffic, and he obliged, and once 352 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: they had crossed, they introduced themselves to one another. Her 353 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: name was Amelie Otar and she had recently moved to 354 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: Paris from Austria. When she mentioned she earned a living 355 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: giving German lessons, al Fall said he had always wanted 356 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: to learn German. That was a complete lie. He hated 357 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:33,439 Speaker 1: that subject in school. As he was feeling stagnant in 358 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: his job. Bertillon wrote a book to occupy himself during 359 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: his time, and this book was titled Le Ras sauvage 360 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 1: or The Savage Races. Holly didn't find a lot of 361 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: information on this book's specific contents, but it's usually dismissed 362 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 1: as a messy, poorly researched title that was more of 363 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: Bertillon's musing on things he didn't have a lot of 364 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,880 Speaker 1: exposure to than on any kind of actual scientific exam 365 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: of anything. Also, based on its title, seems like it 366 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: must have been incredibly racist. This book did not do well, 367 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: but he had dictated it to Amalie and the two 368 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: of them had become very close, and soon she was 369 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: taking notes for him regularly. I did find, i should say, 370 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: French language versions of it, and my French is okay, 371 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: but not really good enough to plow through a book 372 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:30,879 Speaker 1: of pseudo information of me, like fake scientific search. So 373 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 1: just if anybody's like I found this book, well yeah, 374 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: but not an English language version for good reason, I imagine. 375 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: Not long though after the publication of this book, his 376 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: boss Andreau retired and the new prefect, whose name was Cemcas, 377 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: had heard of Bertion's project, and unlike his predecessor, he 378 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,439 Speaker 1: was really interested in it, and he gave Bertillon a 379 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: chance to prove that this system would work. He had 380 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: three months to do it, with the help of two 381 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,400 Speaker 1: assigned clerks, and he had to find at least one 382 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 1: repeat offender in the system through his method. It took 383 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,199 Speaker 1: some time, but eventually he did manage to match a 384 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: newly arrested man with a previous visit to the Paris 385 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: police department. The timing of that first match in February 386 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty three, was unfortunately overshadowed by the death of 387 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: Alfonse's father, Luis Adolph. Despite that loss, eighteen eighty three 388 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 1: was pivotal for Bertillon in more positive ways. He built 389 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 1: on that first success by identifying more and more recidivists 390 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,360 Speaker 1: in the police records, and he proposed to and married Amili, 391 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: who had been an important part of his efforts. She's 392 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: said to have compiled more than seven thousand of the 393 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: cards used for this system. She had, by all accounts, beautiful, 394 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: easily legible writing, so she really made the whole system 395 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,640 Speaker 1: easier for users. By the end of eighteen eighty three, 396 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,119 Speaker 1: Bertillon had identified forty nine duplicate offenders in the Parisian 397 00:23:56,119 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: police bureau records. By the end of eighteen eighty Fourertion's 398 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: process had identified two hundred and forty one repeat offenders. 399 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 1: This was all proof enough for his prefect to start 400 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: instituting the system officially. Bertion was tasked with getting a 401 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: department up and running, and police staff from other countries 402 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: soon were visiting Paris to learn this system and bring 403 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: it back to their own offices, and Bertion had some 404 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,879 Speaker 1: very high profile successes. His system was used to identify 405 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,959 Speaker 1: an anarchist who was plotting a bombing, as well as 406 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: a man who had faked his own death and then 407 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:35,360 Speaker 1: continued to commit crimes. An eighteen eighty six article ran 408 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 1: in papers around the US titled identifying Prisoners, and it 409 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: announced the new system as a triumph. It read, in 410 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,880 Speaker 1: part quote, the latest method of identifying prisoners which has 411 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:52,200 Speaker 1: been introduced into France by Monsieur Alfonse Bertian, and which 412 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,880 Speaker 1: is now successfully practiced not only in the chief French prisons, 413 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 1: but in Russia and Japan. As well as the exact 414 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 1: measurement of the prisoner on his arrival at the jail, 415 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: a photograph is also immediately taken, and by these means 416 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: the many mistakes which have been made by a trusting 417 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: photographer only are avoided. In eighteen eighty eight, France had 418 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 1: established its Bureau of Identification, with Alphonse Bertillon as its director. 419 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,679 Speaker 1: Bertion's career was clearly taking off, but his arrogance was 420 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,640 Speaker 1: about to trip him up. We'll talk about his involvement 421 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: in the Dreyfus affair after we hear from the sponsors 422 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:39,360 Speaker 1: that keep stuff you missed in history class going. As 423 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: use of bertillonage began to spread, there were naturally detractors. 424 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: One of the biggest early criticisms was simply disbelief that 425 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: there couldn't be duplicate people within the system. In a 426 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: statement in eighteen ninety three, Bertillon said, quote the ideal 427 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: card of the average man more exactly than Frances banand 428 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: that is to say, individual in whom all the measurements 429 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: correspond exactly to the average dimension, quite simply does not exist. 430 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,399 Speaker 1: It is never found even in the most central section 431 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:14,160 Speaker 1: of my cabinets. There are, of course, cards which approach 432 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: this ideal configuration, but the related measures never approached each 433 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: other so closely that they can be confused. That assertion 434 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: would be proven wrong. There were other issues with the system, 435 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: and we're going to get to them in a moment. 436 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:32,719 Speaker 1: But here's the thing. Bertillon was stubborn when it came 437 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,640 Speaker 1: to criticism. He was terrible at hearing anybody criticize his work, 438 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: and he always insisted that the critic was the one 439 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: in the wrong. Bertion's arrogance caused a great deal of 440 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 1: harm when he was asked to consult on the case 441 00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 1: of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, which we've covered on the show 442 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,920 Speaker 1: as a two parter the short version. Dreyfus was tried 443 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,640 Speaker 1: for selling military secrets to Germany in eighteen ninety four. 444 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 1: A key piece of evidence in this trial was a 445 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: handwritten document which contained information about state secrets and their sale, 446 00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: and Bertil was asked to analyze the handwriting. Now, he 447 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,159 Speaker 1: was not a handwriting expert, but his reputation had become 448 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: so well known for his police work that people thought 449 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: he was the obvious choice. In the six years since 450 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,440 Speaker 1: the Bureau of Identification had been formed, he had developed 451 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: other means of using his mathematical formulas to measure both 452 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 1: people in evidence, and he thought he could similarly use 453 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: it to analyze handwriting. And this was disastrous. Bertillon undoubtedly 454 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: biased by anti Semitism, which was an enormous problem in 455 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,520 Speaker 1: France at the time, determined that Dreyfus, who was Jewish, 456 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 1: had forged his own handwriting in an effort to conceal 457 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: his involvement in this traitorous sale of state secrets. He 458 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 1: explained to the court at the trial that Dreyfus had 459 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: formed the letters using a square grid as the first 460 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: disguise passed, and then worked from that version to make 461 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: a bad copy of his own writing. Bertil may have 462 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:16,400 Speaker 1: believed that he had figured out a criminal mastermind's method, 463 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: but what he really did was get a totally innocent 464 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: man exiled to Devil's Island and spark an enormous cultural 465 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: rift and giant anti Semitic backlash in France. But even 466 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: when new evidence came to light indicating that the real 467 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 1: trader was Ferdinand Walsen Esterhousi, including a confession, and not Dreyfus, 468 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: Bertillon continued to vehemently assert that Dreyfus had to be 469 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: the guilty party. His testimony during Dreyfus's second trial was 470 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 1: described this way by a member of the press. Quote 471 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: now and again, Monsieur Bertillon's voice rose in hateful shrieks. 472 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: There were interludes when he clenched his fist, struck the bar, 473 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: swearing that Dreyfus was the trader. The voice rang out 474 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:08,960 Speaker 1: with passion and excitement. You beheld in him, the man 475 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 1: vain unto madness, with confidence in his atrocious fantasies. He 476 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 1: was at last taking his revenge for all the insults 477 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 1: of those who had called him a fit subject for 478 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: an asylum of the insane. Bertillon never conceded that he 479 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: had been wrong in this matter, even after real handwriting 480 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: experts had proven his conclusions and his methods false, and 481 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,640 Speaker 1: he proclaimed this correctness even to his deathbed. While this 482 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: scandal caused them damage to his reputation as a handwriting expert, 483 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 1: and his work had contributed made in a major way 484 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: to a very real crisis, the family cost was greater. 485 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: Alphonse's brother, Jacques, also a well respected statistician, was married 486 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:58,240 Speaker 1: to Polish physician Caroline Schultz. Caroline was Jewish, and Jacques 487 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: was so upset by Alpha Vonse Bertillon's insistence that Alfred 488 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: Dreyfuss must be guilty that these two brothers had a 489 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: massive falling out and they did not speak for years. 490 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: Over time, the bersionage method was recognized as having problems. 491 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: From the very beginning of it being put to practical 492 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 1: use in police departments around the world, its flaws became 493 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 1: more and more apparent. For one thing, there were a 494 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: lot of devices that needed to be acquired and then 495 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: maintained and constantly calibrated for measuring. For another, there was 496 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 1: significant training needed for implementation. Any clerk or officer who 497 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: was going to use those many devices and tools needed 498 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,520 Speaker 1: fairly advanced instructions on how to use them, and different 499 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: users would often return different measurements of the same subject. 500 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: Sometimes the same user would return different measurements on the 501 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: same subject if they took a second set. Bertillon, as 502 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: he always did, denied all of this, stating that quote, 503 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: anyone who is not an imbecile could learn to measure 504 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,400 Speaker 1: in five minutes and never forget the process. This system 505 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:04,960 Speaker 1: also did not really account for things like the way 506 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,360 Speaker 1: a person's body changes as it ages, so as a 507 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: subject aged, it was less and less likely that they 508 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: would match up with a Bertillon card from their younger years. Additionally, 509 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: incidents started to pop up where two different people were 510 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 1: identified as the same person, something that Bertillon had insisted 511 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: was not possible. By the end of the nineteenth century, 512 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 1: as finger printing started to be adopted by many law 513 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: enforcement offices, the Bertillon system, which had briefly been hailed 514 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: as a revolutionary tool, started to fall out of favor. 515 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:41,240 Speaker 1: Did not take long after its introduction. Bertillon had initially 516 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: rallied against the use of fingerprints, although over time they 517 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: started to be included with Bertillon cards in police files. 518 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: The mug shot, however, with its standard front and profile 519 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: images that's endured despite the scandal of the Dreyfus affair. 520 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: Bertillon continued to be given awards for his work criminology, 521 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,400 Speaker 1: and he continued in his work until in nineteen thirteen, 522 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: he began to experience the sensation of being extremely cold 523 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: at all times. He could not seem to get warm 524 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,680 Speaker 1: no matter what amount of heat he was exposed to, 525 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: and he shivered constantly. He was also starting to have 526 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 1: trouble with his eyesight. After he was diagnosed with pernicious anemia. 527 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: His younger brother George, donated blood for a transfusion, and 528 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: initially this helped a great deal, but the effects wore 529 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: off and he needed a second and then a third transfusion, 530 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: and George was the donator on all of it, so 531 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 1: it was taking a toll on him as well. He 532 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,600 Speaker 1: kept working for months as this was going on, and 533 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: there's no denying that he was getting weaker and weaker. 534 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,280 Speaker 1: In early nineteen fourteen, he was nominated for the Legendarner 535 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: Officers Rosette, but people were reluctant to give him this 536 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 1: award unless he met one condition. An emissary was sent 537 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,920 Speaker 1: to Bertillon's home, where at this point he was having 538 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: to stay in bed, and told him that he would 539 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 1: receive this award only if he retracted his assertion that 540 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: Dreyfus had written the document known as the Bordereaux, which 541 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,520 Speaker 1: had been a key component of that case. Bertil reportedly 542 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: yelled no at the visitor repeatedly. That was the end 543 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: of that. On February thirteenth, nineteen fourteen, alse Bertigon fell 544 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 1: into a coma. He died at eleven PM and was 545 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:31,440 Speaker 1: buried at Perlischez Cemetery. In the September nineteen fifteen edition 546 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 1: of the Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law 547 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:38,280 Speaker 1: and Criminology, lawyer and author Raymond B. Fosdick wrote quote 548 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: in the death of Alphonse Bertillon in February nineteen fourteen, 549 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,680 Speaker 1: the anthropometric method of identification probably suffered its final blow. 550 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 1: For a decade, his prestigian personality were the only supports 551 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: of a system that in Europe at least, had been 552 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 1: fast losing ground. Persistently, even stubbornly, he endeavored to save 553 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 1: the method would was the product of his genius and 554 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,520 Speaker 1: which bore his name, But he lived to see it 555 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: discarded in nearly every country in Europe except his own, 556 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,759 Speaker 1: and even in France. Now that the weight of his 557 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,920 Speaker 1: influence and his really compelling personality are gone, it is 558 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:19,480 Speaker 1: doubtful whether his system of identification will be continued. One 559 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 1: of the issues that arises when looking at Bertillon's life 560 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,080 Speaker 1: is that there are some big gaps in the information. 561 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: One cause was that his wife Emily and her grief 562 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,799 Speaker 1: destroyed a lot of his papers after he died. As 563 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,120 Speaker 1: a consequence, we really don't know a whole lot about 564 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:37,279 Speaker 1: his personal thoughts on a lot of the events that 565 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 1: took place during his life. His actions and behaviors once 566 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:43,680 Speaker 1: he started on the system that would be the basis 567 00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,400 Speaker 1: of his life's work show a man that was driven 568 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:51,359 Speaker 1: by our pursuit of the truth, but also distracted from 569 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:54,680 Speaker 1: that truth by Hubris. Perhaps the best summation of the 570 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:58,880 Speaker 1: complicated Bertillon was written by Richard Fairbrother and Julian Champkin 571 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:02,640 Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen for the periodical Significance, in which they 572 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 1: said he was quote passionate about measuring everything that could 573 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: be measured and some things that could not really be measured. 574 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:19,359 Speaker 1: Besides ah false, Bertillon, you are a quandary. I will 575 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,239 Speaker 1: talk so much about the various ways he has discussed 576 00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: in our Behind the Scenes on Friday, but in the 577 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:32,000 Speaker 1: meantime I want to talk to you about Stroganoff. This 578 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: is from our listener Chelsea, who writes, Dear Holly and Tracy, 579 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:37,279 Speaker 1: I want to begin by thanking you both for such 580 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:39,960 Speaker 1: a wonderful podcast. I've been a listener since the beginning, 581 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 1: and I have loved listening to the podcast mature and 582 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 1: grow over time with the two of you making it 583 00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:47,440 Speaker 1: your own. You've done such a phenomenal job of tackling 584 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 1: difficult and interesting topics, and I always can't wait to 585 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,840 Speaker 1: hear what's next. This is a little late because I 586 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:56,640 Speaker 1: listen exclusively when driving, so I'm always a bit behind sidebar. 587 00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 1: You never have to apologize. We suffer the same problems 588 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,239 Speaker 1: when we're going about our lives. We fall behind on 589 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:05,080 Speaker 1: the things you love all the time. Chelsea continues, I 590 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,600 Speaker 1: just listened to your Oops All Noodles episode, and I 591 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: was excited that you were covering beef stroganoff. My husband 592 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,399 Speaker 1: and I have had a long standing disagreement about how 593 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,000 Speaker 1: to make stroganoff, going back to the beginning of our marriage. 594 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:18,839 Speaker 1: He does the majority of the cooking since he's better 595 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:21,760 Speaker 1: at it, but stroganoff is something that I feel confident about. 596 00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:24,279 Speaker 1: The First time I made it, he couldn't believe I 597 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,160 Speaker 1: was adding tomato paste and leaving out the mushrooms because 598 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,400 Speaker 1: I don't like them. He thought that was absolutely ridiculous 599 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,280 Speaker 1: because his recipe uses paprika instead. He claimed that adding 600 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,800 Speaker 1: tomato paste and emitting mushrooms change the intent of the dish. 601 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:39,840 Speaker 1: I said this was how I learned to make it, 602 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 1: and that I would stick with what I know. This 603 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:44,719 Speaker 1: has become such an inside joke between us that now 604 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:46,960 Speaker 1: years later, when we're meal planning for the week, if 605 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:50,480 Speaker 1: stroganov is suggested, it becomes an entire family discussion about 606 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:54,160 Speaker 1: are we making moms stroganof or Dad's strogan Off, complete 607 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:56,920 Speaker 1: with a lot of knowing glances and the kids taking sides. 608 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,400 Speaker 1: Imagine my delight when you said that tomato panes was 609 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,239 Speaker 1: added as an ingredient in the early nineteen hundreds. It 610 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: was so great that I shouted ha while driving. I 611 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:08,400 Speaker 1: was in the middle of dropping one kid at preschool 612 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,640 Speaker 1: and driving to volunteer at the other kid's school, but 613 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:12,840 Speaker 1: I had just enough time to swing by home and 614 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:15,719 Speaker 1: interrupt my husband working in his home office with a 615 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:21,600 Speaker 1: triumphant I was right. I love this so much. Once 616 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:23,759 Speaker 1: he understood what I was talking about, he asked me 617 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:26,239 Speaker 1: to cite my sources. He knew he couldn't argue with 618 00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:27,719 Speaker 1: me when I told him I heard it from you, 619 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,440 Speaker 1: because he was the one who originally insisted I listened 620 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: to the podcast. He did want to make it known 621 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:35,920 Speaker 1: that he was also right about the mushrooms. Thank you 622 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,640 Speaker 1: for always adding knowledge and delight to my drive. I've 623 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,880 Speaker 1: attached pictures of our dog, Carlton. He is twelve and 624 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,080 Speaker 1: has always been a crabby old man dog who just 625 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: wants to lie in the sun or be under a 626 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,320 Speaker 1: pile of blankets. Cheers, Chelsea. Okay, first, of all, Carlton 627 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: is hilarious and adorable. I love a grumpy dog there. 628 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:55,440 Speaker 1: He's so cute. I want to scoop him up and 629 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,040 Speaker 1: kiss him, and he'd be like, please do not. Yeah, 630 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:01,959 Speaker 1: I mean that's the saying that I discovered too when 631 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,040 Speaker 1: doing the Stroganoff research, is that there are a lot 632 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:07,640 Speaker 1: of different versions because it propagated throughout the world and 633 00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:10,279 Speaker 1: at different regions that different people created their own kind. 634 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:13,759 Speaker 1: So in my opinion, there's no wrong kind of stroken off. Ever. 635 00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:16,879 Speaker 1: I'm not a tomato paste person, but if you are 636 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:21,279 Speaker 1: and you love that, awesome. I'm like heavy on the 637 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: sour cream and mushrooms person on that one. But I'm 638 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,000 Speaker 1: just glad that everybody is cooking delicious things and that 639 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,480 Speaker 1: it is something that they are good naturedly poking fun 640 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:35,279 Speaker 1: at each other about, not an actual argument. If you 641 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:37,160 Speaker 1: would like to write to us about the way you 642 00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:39,799 Speaker 1: make stroganoff, or any other dish or anything else we've 643 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:41,759 Speaker 1: talked about on the show, you can do that at 644 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,919 Speaker 1: History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also find 645 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,920 Speaker 1: us on social media as Missed in History, and if 646 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:49,880 Speaker 1: you haven't yet subscribed, you can do that on the 647 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:54,520 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. 648 00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:00,280 Speaker 1: Stuff you missed in history class is a part reduction 649 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:05,239 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 650 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,560 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.