Artifacts

Bertillon card for Thomas Conway, arrested for larceny (portraits), May 11, 1911
Bertillon card for Thomas Conway, arrested for larceny (measurements), May 11, 1911
Bertillon card for May Walker, arrested for general theft (portraits), September 8, 1910
Bertillon card for May Walker, arrested for general theft (measurements), September 8, 1910
Bertillon card for Charles Clark, arrested for burglary (portraits), December 2, 1908
Bertillon card for Charles Clark, arrested for burglary (measurements), December 2, 1908
Bertillon card 20213 age 24, February 25, 1905
Bertillon card 20440, July 12, 1910
Bertillon card 20449, November 19, 1908
Bertillon card 20469, December 8, 1908
Bertillon card for Charles Clark, arrested for burglary (portraits), December 2, 1908
Bertillon card for Charles Clark, arrested for burglary (portraits), December 2, 1908
New York City Municipal Archives
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Bertillon cards

In 1879, Paris police clerk Alphonse Bertillon devised a system of anthropometry ("the measurement of man") that could be used to identify people held in police custody, based on fourteen identical measurements, a standardized photographic portrait (frontal and profile), the classification of facial and bodily characteristics, and the notation of scars and tattoos. These were recorded on cards that were filed according to a complex method, so that they could be matched and retrieved. Bertillon's system (called anthropometry, bertillonage, or signaletics) was adopted by police departments and correction systems in many jurisdictions in Europe and the Americas. These cards were collected by the New York City Police Department in the early 20th century.