Jump to navigation
Correctional Measures : Exploring the medical and forensic world of Fort Madison Iowa Penitentiary, JMRBR Presents, Elizabeth Riordan, February 22, 2021
Riordan, Elizabeth
2021-02-22
Zoom
Before CSI and forensic identification, and even before fingerprinting, we had Bertillon. In 1883 French police officer Alphonse Bertillon introduced a new criminal identification system using body measurements to easily identify repeat offenders. While being used to help identify criminals scientifically, Anthropometry had been around in the criminal justice world in several forms prior. During the early and mid-19th century, phrenologists were spreading the word that measuring the human skull could reveal more about a person than what we see on the outside. Phrenology, though short-lived and declared a pseudoscience today, had a lasting impact on criminology. Riordan highlights a collection of these Bertillon cards, on loan from the State Historical Society, from the Fort Madison Penitentiary. Using these cards and other sources from Special Collections and the John Martin Rare Book Room, she explores history’s take on measuring up a criminal. Elizabeth Riordan is the Outreach & Engagement Librarian for Special Collections at the University of Iowa Libraries. She received her Master of Science in Library Science at the University of Iowa. Her background in theater arts and anthropology has allowed Riordan to explore different ways special collection materials can be utilized in classrooms, as well as public events. Working in an active archives that hosts multiple classes and researchers a semester often means that she teeters on that line between access and preservation, but she enthusiastically looks to new technologies and methods to bring even more of the archives out to the community.
English
Forensic sciences Medical archives Phrenology
Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison State Historical Society of Iowa Hardin Library for the Health Sciences. John Martin Rare Book Room
2020-2030
United States -- Iowa -- Fort Madison
John Martin Rare Book Room Presents
00:36:59
Recorded from Zoom presentation, 2560x1440, 25fps. 32khz, 126 kbps audio
Educational use only, no other permissions given. U.S. and international copyright laws may protect this digital object. Commercial use or distribution of the image is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder.
Contact the John Martin Rare Book Room at https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/rbr/contact/
jmrbrpresents_2021_february_22_riordan_correctional_measures.mp4
Moving image Sound
lectures video recordings (physical artifacts)
mp4
