Leonarde Keeler
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Leonarde Keeler (October 30, 1903 – September 20, 1949) was an American inventor best known for co-inventing the
polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a pseudoscientific device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a ...
. He was named after the
polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
, and preferred to be called Nard. He was a Berkeley high school student and amateur magician. He was captivated by John Augustus Larson's machine, a "cardio-pneumo psychogram", with the goal of detecting deception, and worked on it to produce the modern polygraph.


Early life

He was born in 1903 in North Berkeley,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. While in high school, he worked for the
Berkeley Police Department The Berkeley Police Department (BPD) is the municipal police department for the city of Berkeley, California, United States. History Shortly after Berkeley was incorporated in 1878, a town marshal and constables were elected to provide law en ...
for the
Chief of Police A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...
August Vollmer. He was a keen assistant to Larson who had developed a multi-tasking polygraph. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
in the fall of 1923. He moved shortly after that to enroll in
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
to follow Vollmer who accepted a new job as the Chief of Police for
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.The Polygraph Museum: Leonarde Keeler and his Instruments
/ref>


Invention and legacy

In 1924, Keeler's first handmade polygraph instrument, which he called "the Emotograph", was destroyed in a fire at his residence. On February 2, 1935, he conducted the first use of his invention, the Keeler Polygraph—otherwise known as the lie detector. Keeler used the lie detector on two criminals in
Portage, Wisconsin Portage is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 10,581 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Columbia County. It is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Portage was named for ...
, who were later convicted of assault when the lie detector results were introduced in court. One of the earlier uses of the Keeler Polygraph was in 1937, in connection to the murder of 5-year-old Roger William Loomis in Lombard, Illinois. The subject was Grace Yvonne Loomis, the child's mother. In 1938, Keeler conducted a polygraph test upon Francis Sweeney, the chief suspect in the Cleveland torso murders. Sweeney failed to pass the test, leading many to believe that he was the culprit; however, due to lack of evidence, Sweeney was never charged with the killings. He above all was most instrumental in the popularization of modern polygraphy in criminal investigation and job screenings. He went as far as appearing in person in the 1948 film noir docudrama, ''
Call Northside 777 ''Call Northside 777'' is a 1948 American drama film directed by Henry Hathaway. The film parallels the true story of a Chicago newspaper reporter who proved that a man jailed for murder 11 years previously was wrongly convicted. James Stewart ...
'' with
James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...
,
Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He was known for his starring roles in films noir and crime dramas during the 1940s and 1950s, including '' Call Northside ...
, and Lee J. Cobb, playing himself. Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930 to work in the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory at
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
and ultimately became the head of the laboratory in 1936. He held that position until 1938 when he entered private business. He opened the first polygraph school, known as the 'Keeler Institute.' He became the first full-time private polygraph consultant.


Personal life

Keeler was the son of author and naturalist
Charles Keeler Charles Augustus Keeler (October 7, 1871 – July 31, 1937) was an American author, poet, ornithologist and advocate for the arts, particularly architecture. Biography Early life Keeler was born on October 7, 1871, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He m ...
. He married a fellow psychology student Katherine (Kay) Applegate in 1930 in Chicago. She was trained as a forensic sleuth, becoming the nation's first female handwriting analyst. Later on, she established her own all-woman's detective agency in Chicago, specializing in forensic investigation, and left Keeler to marry another man, Rene Dussaq, and during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
joined the WASPS (Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots). She died in 1944 near Patterson Field in
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
while flying solo across the country to help halt the disbanding of the WASPs.


Later life and death

Devastated by his wife's departure and later death, Keeler died in 1949 in
Door County, Wisconsin Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,066. Its seat of government is Sturgeon Bay. It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. ...
, at the age of 45, after suffering a stroke brought on by stress, alcohol, and cigarettes. His contributions to the development of the polygraph are featured in the
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
''The Lie Detector'' which first aired on ''
American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...
'' on January 3, 2023.Robinson, Jennifer. "''American Experience'': ''The Lie Detector''", KPBS.org, Tuesday, December 20, 2022.
Retrieved January 3, 2023.


Filmography


References


External links


Finding Aid to the Leonarde Keeler Papers, 1899-1972
The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

Biography of Leonarde Keeler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keeler, Leonarde American police detectives 1903 births 1949 deaths 20th-century American inventors