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Bertillon card for Salvatore Arrigo
The inspectors’ investigation paid off in December 1909 when 14 members of the Ohio Black Hand were arrested and charged with conspiracy to use the mails for extortion. Salvatore Arrigo was considered the boss of the Black Hand in Ohio and several other states. He was sentenced to four years in prison. The rest received sentences ranging from two to ten years.
On loan from the William H., Allison, Edward, and Terry Oldfield Family Historical Collection |
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Back side of Bertillon card
The card uses an identification system developed by French criminologist Alphonse Bertillon in the late nineteenth century. It was the first scientific method of criminal identification. Officials recorded a series of the suspect’s body measurements, markings, front and profile photographs onto cards. The system was displaced by fingerprinting in the early twentieth century.
Courtesy of the William H., Allison, Edward, and Terry Oldfield Family Historical Collection |
