Keeler’s Northwestern Crime Lab: Chicago Years 1930–1940

A City in Crisis

To understand why Leonarde Keeler's work at Northwestern University mattered so profoundly, you first need to understand the city where it happened. Chicago in the late 1920s and early 1930s was defined by extraordinary violence, entrenched political corruption, and a desperate public hunger for reform.

The city was reeling from the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of February 14, 1929, when seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang were lined up against a wall and shot with Thompson submachine guns [2]Verified Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
Confirms the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of February 14, 1929, the murder of seven men, and Burt Massee's role on the coroner's jury. The massacre shocked the nation and exposed the inadequacy of Chicago's law enforcement. Police corruption and collusion in organized crime was an acknowledged problem, and progressive business and professional elites were actively engaged in efforts to combat organized crime and improve police efficiency [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials.

It was this context of violence and civic desperation that created the institutional environment Keeler would exploit to build the polygraph profession. Chicago's crime problem gave reformers the political leverage to fund scientific crime detection, and Northwestern University provided the independent institutional home that would shield the effort from the corrupt influence of machine politics [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials.

The Progressive Reform Movement

Chicago's progressive civic reformers sought to remedy these problems during the 1920s and 1930s by reorganizing police administration and pitting the powers of organized business against those of organized crime, as the Chicago Crime Commission did [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials. The city's coroner, Herman N. Bundesen, was the first medically trained person to hold that office and was eager to bring scientific methods to criminal investigation [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials.

After the Massacre, Bundesen assembled a panel of prominent Chicagoans to assist the investigation, headed by Burt A. Massee [2]Verified Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
Confirms the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of February 14, 1929, the murder of seven men, and Burt Massee's role on the coroner's jury. Massee, along with Walter Olson, president of the Olson Rug Company, used their own funds to hire Colonel Calvin Goddard, a pioneer in forensic ballistics from the Bureau of Forensic Ballistics in New York [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials. Goddard's successful identification of the weapons used in the Massacre — proving definitively that the guns were not of police origin — demonstrated the value of scientific crime detection and set the stage for something much larger [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials.

America's First Independent Forensic Crime Laboratory

The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (SCDL) was established in the Fall of 1929, through the financial support of Burt A. Massee, who had served as foreman of the coroner's jury convened to investigate the St. Valentine's Day Massacre [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000. It was the first institution of its kind in the United States, patterned partly after the scientific police laboratories maintained in European cities and partly after foreign medico-legal institutes [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000.

The SCDL was incorporated as a non-profit and affiliated with Northwestern University's School of Law in July 1929 [5]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public (Journal)
Confirms SCDL training programs, public outreach efforts, and publication of American Journal of Police Science. It opened in July 1929 with 14 permanent and 15 associate members [6]Verified Development of State Crime Laboratories in Illinois: A Historical Perspective
Confirms the SCDL opened in July 1929 with 14 permanent and 15 associate members, affiliated with Northwestern University School of Law. The laboratory was deliberately established independent of the Chicago Police Department, which was rife with corruption, to ensure credibility and freedom from political interference [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials. Northwestern University President Walter Dill Scott and Law School Dean Emeritus John Henry Wigmore championed the affiliation, appointing a faculty committee to plan the establishment [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials.

Colonel Calvin Goddard served as managing director, having been dispatched to Europe to visit scientific police laboratories in 13 cities to find institutional templates for the new enterprise [7]Verified Lessons from the 'Trial of the Century' and Early Forensic Science Efforts
Confirms Goddard founded the SCDL in 1930 following his 1929 European tour of 13 police laboratories, and the NIST/FBI laboratory connections. The SCDL undertook a wide range of scientific case work during the 1930s, including toxicology, firearms identification, polygraph testing, document analysis, and bacteriology [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials. It also served as the inspiration and model for the FBI Crime Laboratory, which formally began operations in November 1932 [8]Verified The Birth of the FBI's Technical Laboratory—1924 to 1935
Confirms Goddard's role in the SCDL and the FBI's debt to the Northwestern lab, including FBI Agent Appel's training at the SCDL in 1931. To explore how the polygraph evolved from these early instruments, see our guide to the first uses of the polygraph.

Educating the Police and Public

A key ambition of the SCDL's founders was to forensically educate police officers, legal professionals, and the general public [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials. The laboratory's educative mission included a series of 12 lectures to Cook County State's Attorney staff, eight lectures to the Police Lieutenant's Association, and approximately 60 lectures to Chicago Police Department detectives during the winter of 1929-1930 [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials. The SCDL also began publishing the American Journal of Police Science in 1930, America's first scientific police journal, which merged with the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology in 1932 [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000.

However, the SCDL encountered significant resistance from some high-ranking police officials who were hostile to scientific methods [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials. One newspaper headline from August 1930 captured the opposition: police leadership dismissed scientific crime detection as worthless [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials. This resistance between traditional policing and scientific methods would be a recurring challenge throughout Keeler's time at the laboratory. For more on the broader history of ancient lie detection methods, see our complete guide.

Early Life and Training Under Vollmer and Larson

Leonarde Keeler (October 30, 1903 – September 20, 1949) was born in North Berkeley, California, the son of poet and naturalist Charles Keeler [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. Named after Leonardo da Vinci, he preferred to be called "Nard" [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. While in high school, he worked for the Berkeley Police Department under Chief of Police August Vollmer, where he became a keen assistant to John Augustus Larson, who had developed an early polygraph instrument — the "cardio-pneumo psychogram" [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949.

After graduating from high school, Keeler enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in the fall of 1923, then transferred to UCLA to follow Vollmer, who had accepted a position as Chief of Police for Los Angeles [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. He later transferred to Stanford University's psychology department. To fund his education, he and a college friend captured and milked some 70 rattlesnakes, selling the venom to a company that made antivenin [10]Verified Truth in the Machine
Confirms Larson's inconclusive results in 40% of cases at the Institute for Juvenile Research, and Keeler's early life details.

In 1924, Keeler constructed his first polygraph instrument, which he called "The Emotograph," with the help of two friends, Ralph Brandt and Elwood "Doc" Woolsey [11]Verified Leonarde Keeler and His Instruments (Polygraph Museum)
Confirms Western Electro Mechanical Company built the first Keeler polygraph, details the Emotograph's construction with Brandt and Woolsey, and that records cover more than 30,000 cases. Tragically, the instrument was destroyed in a fire at Keeler's residence [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. Undeterred, Vollmer took Keeler to William Scherer of the Western Electro Mechanical Company, who built a new instrument following Keeler's plans and written instructions [11]Verified Leonarde Keeler and His Instruments (Polygraph Museum)
Confirms Western Electro Mechanical Company built the first Keeler polygraph, details the Emotograph's construction with Brandt and Woolsey, and that records cover more than 30,000 cases. This new polygraph replaced smoked paper with an ink recording system and was encased in a portable wooden mahogany box [11]Verified Leonarde Keeler and His Instruments (Polygraph Museum)
Confirms Western Electro Mechanical Company built the first Keeler polygraph, details the Emotograph's construction with Brandt and Woolsey, and that records cover more than 30,000 cases. Learn more about Keeler's full biography in our feature on Leonarde Keeler: The Father of the Modern Polygraph.

Arriving in Chicago

Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930 to work in the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory at Northwestern University [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. Before joining the SCDL permanently, he performed psychological research and experiments at various institutions, including the Institute for Juvenile Research in Chicago, where he examined approximately 500 convicts at Joliet State Prison to study psychopathic responses [12]Verified Leonarde Keeler (Grokipedia)
Confirms Keeler's public demonstrations, GSR addition, portability design, and institutional research at the SCDL.

At the SCDL, Keeler headed the psychology department and quickly brought the lie detector to what contemporaries described as "its present state of perfection" [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000. His accomplishments "elicited the praise of jurists throughout America" [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000. In a late 1934 radio interview on the Columbia Broadcasting System with legal scholar John Henry Wigmore, Keeler stated that scientific methods in crime detection had "come to stay" and predicted that police officers would soon be members of a highly trained profession [3]Verified Teaching Forensic Science to the American Police and Public: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, 1929-1938
Confirms SCDL was established in 1929 as America's first independent forensic crime laboratory, details its founding, roles of Goddard, Massee, Olson, and Wigmore, and the resistance from police officials.

Keeler married fellow psychology student Katherine (Kay) Applegate in 1930 in Chicago [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. She was trained as a forensic sleuth, becoming the nation's first female handwriting analyst, and later established her own all-women's detective agency in Chicago specializing in forensic investigation [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949.

Patent and Early Design

Keeler filed his patent application on July 30, 1925 at the United States Patent Office, and it was issued on January 13, 1931 with patent number 1,788,434 under the name "Apparatus for Recording Arterial Blood Pressure" [13]Verified The Invention of the Polygraph (Ingenious Inventions)
Confirms the patent was filed July 30, 1925 and issued January 13, 1931 with patent number 1,788,434, and that a polygraph cost approximately $1,500. This patent established Keeler as the first person to hold a patent on a polygraph instrument.

The original Keeler Polygraph, manufactured by the Western Electro Mechanical Company, featured three tambours: one for the cardiosphygmograph, another for the pneumograph, and a third for either a second pneumograph or a muscular movement device [14]Verified Keeler Polygraph (Glossary)
Confirms the Keeler Polygraph was originally manufactured by the Western Electro-Mechanical Company and was not produced after 1938. The instrument was not produced by Western Electro Mechanical after 1938 [14]Verified Keeler Polygraph (Glossary)
Confirms the Keeler Polygraph was originally manufactured by the Western Electro-Mechanical Company and was not produced after 1938. At that time, a polygraph was priced at approximately $1,500, equivalent to roughly $20,000 in modern dollars [15]Verified The Lie Detector: Polygraphy (Ingenious Inventions)
Confirms the price of a polygraph was approximately $1,500 and details the Western Electro Mechanical Company collaboration.

In the first three months of the new polygraph's creation, Keeler and Scherer sold sixty to eighty instruments to departments in California and across the country [11]Verified Leonarde Keeler and His Instruments (Polygraph Museum)
Confirms Western Electro Mechanical Company built the first Keeler polygraph, details the Emotograph's construction with Brandt and Woolsey, and that records cover more than 30,000 cases. This rapid commercial success demonstrated the market demand for reliable polygraph equipment and validated Keeler's approach of making the technology practical and portable. For a comprehensive overview of polygraph instrument evolution, visit our guide to the different types of lie detector machines.

Adding Galvanic Skin Response

In the early-to-mid 1930s, Keeler enhanced the polygraph by incorporating the measurement of galvanic skin response (GSR), which detects changes in the skin's electrical conductivity as an indicator of emotional arousal [12]Verified Leonarde Keeler (Grokipedia)
Confirms Keeler's public demonstrations, GSR addition, portability design, and institutional research at the SCDL. This addition complemented existing recordings of blood pressure, pulse, and respiration, providing a more comprehensive assessment of physiological reactions [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. The GSR channel became a standard component of all subsequent polygraph models and remains fundamental to modern polygraph instruments.

Keeler also refined the device's portability during this decade, designing a compact apparatus housed in a carrying case measuring approximately 16 by 8 by 9 inches, complete with all necessary components including cuffs and tubing [12]Verified Leonarde Keeler (Grokipedia)
Confirms Keeler's public demonstrations, GSR addition, portability design, and institutional research at the SCDL. This emphasis on field deployment — rather than laboratory-only use — was central to Keeler's vision and distinguished his approach from that of his mentor, John Larson, who favored extended laboratory research.

Associated Research, Inc. Takes Over Manufacturing

Associated Research, Inc., a Chicago firm established in 1936 by James F. Inman (1902-1959), repaired and manufactured electrical instruments and became the primary manufacturer of Keeler Polygraph models [16]Verified Polygraph (National Museum of American History)
Confirms Associated Research, Inc. was a Chicago firm established in 1936 by James F. Inman and references Keeler's patent. August Vollmer, Keeler's mentor, had introduced Keeler to the firm, and the partnership proved remarkably productive.

The first major production model was Model #301, which replaced Keeler's original Western Electro Mechanical design [11]Verified Leonarde Keeler and His Instruments (Polygraph Museum)
Confirms Western Electro Mechanical Company built the first Keeler polygraph, details the Emotograph's construction with Brandt and Woolsey, and that records cover more than 30,000 cases. Model #301 lasted over two decades before being succeeded by Model #302 in the 1950s [17]Verified Polygraph (Baltimore Police Museum)
Confirms details about Model #301, Model #302 specifications, the Associated Research manufacturing lineage, and the Keeler Polygraph prototype history. The Model #302 added a third channel — the "psychogalvanometer" — to the instrument, featured a steel case with wrinkle finish and chromium trim, and was powered by seven batteries along with an AC power source [17]Verified Polygraph (Baltimore Police Museum)
Confirms details about Model #301, Model #302 specifications, the Associated Research manufacturing lineage, and the Keeler Polygraph prototype history. The chart drive unit was powered by a synchronous motor at speeds of either six or twelve inches per minute, and featured four recording pens [17]Verified Polygraph (Baltimore Police Museum)
Confirms details about Model #301, Model #302 specifications, the Associated Research manufacturing lineage, and the Keeler Polygraph prototype history.

Associated Research continued manufacturing Keeler polygraph models for decades after Keeler's death, producing the Pacesetter series beginning in the mid-1960s [18]Verified Polygraph (Baltimore Police Museum — Pacesetter series)
Confirms the Keeler Model #6308 Pacesetter series manufactured by Associated Research in the mid-1960s, and that it was the first Keeler instrument to use transistors. The Keeler Model #6308 was the first of this series and the first Keeler instrument to use transistors [18]Verified Polygraph (Baltimore Police Museum — Pacesetter series)
Confirms the Keeler Model #6308 Pacesetter series manufactured by Associated Research in the mid-1960s, and that it was the first Keeler instrument to use transistors. This continuous manufacturing lineage demonstrates the commercial viability of the infrastructure Keeler established.

Building a Commercial Ecosystem

Keeler's commercialization strategy was comprehensive. He combined instrument manufacturing, examiner training, consulting services, and institutional partnerships into an integrated commercial ecosystem. This approach transformed the polygraph from a one-off scientific curiosity into a sustainable professional tool.

The Keeler Polygraph bore inscriptions that became markers of professional credibility: "KEELER POLYGRAPH / U.S. PAT. NO. 1,788,844 OTHERS PENDING" along with the Associated Research branding [17]Verified Polygraph (Baltimore Police Museum)
Confirms details about Model #301, Model #302 specifications, the Associated Research manufacturing lineage, and the Keeler Polygraph prototype history. These markings helped standardize and legitimize the instrument across law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Keeler's commercial success also established the economic model that the polygraph profession would follow for generations — manufacturers building instruments, schools training examiners, and consultants serving clients in both the public and private sectors. For those interested in a modern polygraph career, see our guide to becoming a polygraph examiner.

The Portage, Wisconsin Breakthrough: February 2, 1935

On February 2, 1935, Keeler achieved a milestone in forensic science history when he conducted the first court-admitted polygraph examination in Portage, Wisconsin [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. The criminal trial involved Tony Grignano and Cecil Loniello, who stood accused of attempting to kill a sheriff [19]Verified Will Lie Detectors Ever Get Their Day in Court Again?
Confirms the February 2, 1935 Portage, Wisconsin case details, Judge Clayton F. Van Pelt's role, and Keeler's statements about limitations of the polygraph. All evidence was circumstantial, and Judge Clayton F. Van Pelt, who had heard about the work at Northwestern's Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, called upon Keeler to administer polygraph examinations [19]Verified Will Lie Detectors Ever Get Their Day in Court Again?
Confirms the February 2, 1935 Portage, Wisconsin case details, Judge Clayton F. Van Pelt's role, and Keeler's statements about limitations of the polygraph.

Via a stipulation between prosecution and defense, the polygraph results were admitted as evidence [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. Keeler determined that Grignano and Loniello were likely lying, and both were subsequently convicted of assault [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. While the Keeler Polygraph had been a showpiece at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, this marked the first time it had been used in a criminal trial [19]Verified Will Lie Detectors Ever Get Their Day in Court Again?
Confirms the February 2, 1935 Portage, Wisconsin case details, Judge Clayton F. Van Pelt's role, and Keeler's statements about limitations of the polygraph.

After the conviction, Keeler told reporters that the findings of the polygraph were "as acceptable in court as fingerprint testimony" [19]Verified Will Lie Detectors Ever Get Their Day in Court Again?
Confirms the February 2, 1935 Portage, Wisconsin case details, Judge Clayton F. Van Pelt's role, and Keeler's statements about limitations of the polygraph. However, Keeler himself was honest about the technology's limitations. When asked by the judge if he would allow the test to decide the most important affairs of his life, Keeler answered in the negative: "I wouldn't want to convict a man on the grounds of the records alone" [19]Verified Will Lie Detectors Ever Get Their Day in Court Again?
Confirms the February 2, 1935 Portage, Wisconsin case details, Judge Clayton F. Van Pelt's role, and Keeler's statements about limitations of the polygraph. This landmark case established an early precedent for polygraph evidence in legal proceedings.

High-Profile Cases of the Late 1930s

The Portage case was followed by other high-profile uses of the Keeler Polygraph. In 1937, the instrument was used in connection with the murder of five-year-old Roger William Loomis in Lombard, Illinois, where the subject was the child's mother, Grace Yvonne Loomis [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949.

Perhaps the most dramatic case came in 1938, when Keeler conducted polygraph tests upon Dr. Francis E. Sweeney, the chief suspect in the Cleveland Torso Murders — one of the most infamous serial killing cases of the era [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. Eliot Ness, serving as Cleveland's Public Safety Director, personally brought Keeler from Chicago to administer the test [20]Verified Cleveland Torso Murderer
Confirms Keeler administered two polygraph tests to Francis Sweeney in 1938, that Sweeney failed both, and Keeler told Ness that Sweeney was the culprit. Sweeney failed to pass two separate polygraph examinations, and Keeler reportedly told Ness that Sweeney was the culprit [20]Verified Cleveland Torso Murderer
Confirms Keeler administered two polygraph tests to Francis Sweeney in 1938, that Sweeney failed both, and Keeler told Ness that Sweeney was the culprit. However, due to lack of evidence and Sweeney's political connections — he was the first cousin of a sitting congressman — Sweeney was never charged [20]Verified Cleveland Torso Murderer
Confirms Keeler administered two polygraph tests to Francis Sweeney in 1938, that Sweeney failed both, and Keeler told Ness that Sweeney was the culprit.

These cases demonstrated both the power and the limitations of the polygraph as an investigative tool. They helped build the instrument's reputation while also establishing the principle that polygraph results should be used alongside other evidence rather than as the sole basis for prosecution. Discover how polygraph testing evolved through the world wars in our military history guide.

The Lab's Growing Caseload

By 1932, polygraph testing had surpassed ballistics as the laboratory's primary function [1]Verified Scientific Crime Detection: Early Efforts in Chicago
Confirms that by 1932, polygraph testing had become the laboratory's primary function and that over 2,171 polygraph examinations were conducted between 1935-1938. Over 2,171 polygraph examinations were conducted between 1935 and 1938, demonstrating the overwhelming demand for Keeler's services from law enforcement agencies [1]Verified Scientific Crime Detection: Early Efforts in Chicago
Confirms that by 1932, polygraph testing had become the laboratory's primary function and that over 2,171 polygraph examinations were conducted between 1935-1938. These numbers reflected a significant cultural shift: police departments that had initially resisted scientific methods were increasingly turning to the SCDL for assistance.

Keeler also delivered approximately 20 lectures to civic organizations such as Kiwanis Clubs between 1929 and 1930, often featuring live polygraph demonstrations [12]Verified Leonarde Keeler (Grokipedia)
Confirms Keeler's public demonstrations, GSR addition, portability design, and institutional research at the SCDL. At the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago from 1933 to 1934, Keeler exhibited the polygraph alongside truth serum demonstrations, drawing significant public interest in scientific crime detection [12]Verified Leonarde Keeler (Grokipedia)
Confirms Keeler's public demonstrations, GSR addition, portability design, and institutional research at the SCDL. These public demonstrations were crucial for building popular support for scientific policing and generating the institutional demand that sustained the laboratory financially.

The Northwestern Training Program

Keeler's training program at Northwestern was the first structured polygraph examiner education program in the world. Students came from law enforcement agencies, military intelligence organizations, and the private sector. Keeler trained examiners who went on to establish polygraph programs at police departments across the country, at federal agencies, and at private consulting firms.

The SCDL offered practical experience in identifying firearms, fingerprints, and explosives; detecting forgeries; conducting polygraph tests; and preserving evidence through photography, chemical analysis, and other techniques [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School. When the laboratory was transferred to the Chicago Police Department in 1938, Fred Inbau began training police officers to replace civilian personnel [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000.

The FBI also benefited from the Northwestern training program. FBI Special Agent Charles Appel attended one of the first national scientific crime detection training courses at Goddard's lab in Chicago during April and May 1931, learning serology, toxicology, handwriting analysis, and other subjects [8]Verified The Birth of the FBI's Technical Laboratory—1924 to 1935
Confirms Goddard's role in the SCDL and the FBI's debt to the Northwestern lab, including FBI Agent Appel's training at the SCDL in 1931. This training directly contributed to the establishment of the FBI's own Technical Laboratory later that year.

Building a Professional Network

Through his students, Keeler's methods, instruments, and philosophical approach to polygraph testing spread throughout the United States and eventually internationally. The training program created an informal professional community of Keeler-trained examiners who shared techniques, referred cases, and advocated for polygraph acceptance in their respective jurisdictions.

This network was the precursor to the formal professional organizations that would later emerge. The American Polygraph Association, established in 1966, resulted from the merger of several polygraph associations and built directly upon the professional networks that Keeler's training program had created [22]Verified American Polygraph Association
Confirms the APA was established in 1966 as the world's leading association for polygraph professionals with approximately 2,800 members. Today the APA is the world's leading association dedicated to evidence-based scientific methods for credibility assessment, with approximately 2,800 members [22]Verified American Polygraph Association
Confirms the APA was established in 1966 as the world's leading association for polygraph professionals with approximately 2,800 members. Read about how the APA was founded and its continuing influence on the profession.

Fred E. Inbau: From Lab Assistant to Legal Authority

Fred E. Inbau (1909-1998) joined the SCDL in 1933 as a research assistant, holding a joint appointment working for the laboratory and teaching in Northwestern's School of Law [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School. Although trained as a lawyer, Inbau pursued his interest in forensic science at the laboratory and remained with it until 1938, when he was named Director of the SCDL upon its sale to the City of Chicago [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School. He left to be a trial lawyer in 1941 and joined the faculty of Northwestern University School of Law in 1945 [23]Verified Inbau, Fred (Glossary)
Confirms Inbau joined the SCDL in 1933, became director when sold to Chicago Police, and left to join Northwestern Law faculty in 1945.

Inbau became one of the most prominent advocates for forensic science in criminal investigation and authored numerous influential works. He published Lie Detection and Criminal Interrogation in 1942, which became a foundational text [24]Verified Reid Technique
Confirms both Keeler and Reid set up polygraph training clinics in Chicago after working at the SCDL, and details Inbau-Reid collaboration. In 1974, he was named John Henry Wigmore Professor of Law at Northwestern [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School. Inbau established the Annual Short Course for Prosecuting Attorneys in 1936, the oldest continuing legal education course in the country [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School. His conviction that scientific evidence should replace coercive interrogation methods directly reflected Keeler's vision.

John E. Reid: Revolutionizing Polygraph Methodology

John E. Reid (1910-1982), a law graduate who had worked in the Chicago Police Department, joined the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory in 1940 [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School. Reid met Fred Inbau at the SCDL, beginning a collaboration that would define American interrogation practice for decades [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School.

In 1947, Reid developed the Control Question Technique (CQT), a fundamental breakthrough in polygraph methodology [25]Verified History of Polygraph
Confirms Reid developed the Control Question Technique in 1947, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in 1948, and PolyScore accuracy exceeding 98%. The CQT incorporated control questions (now called comparison questions) designed to be emotionally arousing for non-deceptive subjects and less emotionally arousing for deceptive subjects than the relevant questions [25]Verified History of Polygraph
Confirms Reid developed the Control Question Technique in 1947, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in 1948, and PolyScore accuracy exceeding 98%. This technique replaced the Relevant/Irrelevant Question Technique (RIT) that Keeler had used, and its development represented a major advancement in polygraph accuracy [25]Verified History of Polygraph
Confirms Reid developed the Control Question Technique in 1947, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in 1948, and PolyScore accuracy exceeding 98%.

Reid formed his own detective agency, John E. Reid and Associates, in 1947 [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School. He and Inbau collaborated on numerous books, including Truth and Deception: The Polygraph Technique (1966) and Criminal Interrogation and Confessions (1962) [21]Verified Fred E. Inbau Papers (Northwestern University Archives)
Confirms Inbau's 1933 arrival at SCDL, his directorship in 1938, his association with John Reid from 1940, and his career at Northwestern Law School. The CQT remains the most frequently used polygraph test technique today and has been refined by subsequent practitioners including Cleve Backster, who developed the Zone Comparison Technique in 1960 [25]Verified History of Polygraph
Confirms Reid developed the Control Question Technique in 1947, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in 1948, and PolyScore accuracy exceeding 98%. For a deep dive into the Control Question Technique and other polygraph methods, visit our learning center.

From Improvisation to Protocol

Before Keeler, polygraph examinations were essentially improvised. Each operator developed their own questioning strategy, their own interpretation criteria, and their own standards for what constituted a significant physiological response. Keeler's contribution was to develop repeatable testing protocols that transformed polygraph from improvised experimentation into a structured professional practice.

Keeler developed the Relevant/Irrelevant (R/I) questioning technique, which became the standard approach during his era. He also employed the Peak of Tension test, which was particularly useful in cases involving knowledge of specific crime details. His protocols established the three-channel recording standard — respiration, cardiovascular activity, and electrodermal response — that became the foundation for all subsequent polygraph methodology.

Keeler stressed the importance of trained operators and controlled conditions to ensure accuracy, helping establish the polygraph as a standard tool in laboratories despite resistance from some police officials [12]Verified Leonarde Keeler (Grokipedia)
Confirms Keeler's public demonstrations, GSR addition, portability design, and institutional research at the SCDL. His documentation of procedures, combined with the training program at Northwestern, meant that examiners across the country were using comparable methods — a prerequisite for the profession's credibility.

The Foundation for Modern Accuracy

The standardization that Keeler pioneered made possible the systematic study of polygraph accuracy that followed. Subsequent research, including meta-analyses of the Control Question Technique by Kircher, Horowitz, and Raskin (1988), found accuracy exceeding 85% across studies [26]Verified Meta-Analysis of Mock Crime Studies of the Control Question Polygraph Technique
Foundational meta-analysis of 14 CQT laboratory studies finding accuracy exceeding 85%, demonstrating the success of techniques descended from Keeler's work. Foundational mock crime studies from the Utah research group established the validity of the Federal Zone of Comparison technique with similar accuracy rates [27]Verified Validity of CQT in Laboratory Mock Crime Study
Foundational CQT mock crime study establishing the Federal Zone of Comparison technique validity with accuracy exceeding 85%.

Modern validated algorithms such as PolyScore, developed by analyzing data from 1,411 real criminal cases provided by the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute, have exceeded 98% accuracy in quantifying physiological data [25]Verified History of Polygraph
Confirms Reid developed the Control Question Technique in 1947, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in 1948, and PolyScore accuracy exceeding 98%. These achievements would have been impossible without the standardized procedures and three-channel recording framework that Keeler established during his Northwestern years. The research tradition he initiated continues through ongoing studies documented in our Polygraph Research Database. The work of researchers like Raskin and Kircher at the University of Utah directly descends from the methodology Keeler pioneered.

A Fundamental Disagreement

The rivalry between Keeler and his mentor John Larson centered on a fundamental disagreement about how the polygraph should be developed and deployed. Larson believed that extensive additional scientific research was needed before commercialization, viewing Keeler's approach as a betrayal of the scientific method. Keeler argued that practical field deployment was the best way to improve the technology and demonstrate its value.

While working toward his medical degree in Chicago between 1923 and 1927, Larson tested the lie detector on more than 200 children at the Institute for Juvenile Research and found its results inconclusive approximately 40 percent of the time [10]Verified Truth in the Machine
Confirms Larson's inconclusive results in 40% of cases at the Institute for Juvenile Research, and Keeler's early life details. This experience reinforced his cautious approach. Larson saw the lie detector as something that needed years more research before it could be responsibly commercialized.

Keeler, by contrast, saw the technology's potential for immediate practical application. His commercial success — selling polygraphs to police departments, training examiners, and conducting thousands of examinations — deepened the rift between the two men. This tension between commercial practice and academic validation has characterized the polygraph field ever since, echoing through debates that continue to this day. For a parallel exploration of professional rivalries that shaped the field, see our account of the Richard Arther vs. Cleve Backster technique war.

Sale to the Chicago Police Department

The Great Depression dealt a severe financial blow to the SCDL. Goddard left the laboratory by 1932, and it was run by several interim directors under Northwestern University supervision [7]Verified Lessons from the 'Trial of the Century' and Early Forensic Science Efforts
Confirms Goddard founded the SCDL in 1930 following his 1929 European tour of 13 police laboratories, and the NIST/FBI laboratory connections. By 1938, the Chicago Police Department had lost enough of its gangster-era stigma to purchase the laboratory facility for $25,000 [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000. The purchase included two chemical laboratories, a photography room and darkroom, a chamber outfitted with a lie detector, a document examiner's room, a library containing some 1,000 books on scientific crime detection, and an exhibits room containing many hundreds of guns and other implements of crime [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000.

Most of the civilian staff were employed to operate the police department's new lab, which was relocated to Central Police Station at 1121 North State Street [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000. When the department expressed a desire to replace civilian personnel with police staff, Fred Inbau began training police officers in the various forensic disciplines [4]Verified Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Confirms the SCDL was established in the Fall of 1929 through Burt A. Massee's funding, and details the 1938 purchase by Chicago Police for $25,000. This transfer marked the end of the SCDL as an independent institution, but it also represented a victory: the Chicago police had finally embraced scientific methods that they had resisted a decade earlier.

Keeler Enters Private Practice

Keeler became head of the laboratory in 1936 and held that position until 1938 when he entered private business [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. He became the first full-time private polygraph consultant [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949, establishing a model that thousands of professionals would follow.

During the 1940s, Keeler continued his work from Chicago consulting practices, arguing that the polygraph saved time and money while promoting honesty among employees [12]Verified Leonarde Keeler (Grokipedia)
Confirms Keeler's public demonstrations, GSR addition, portability design, and institutional research at the SCDL. He also contributed to the war effort: the original Keeler Polygraph prototype was used by Keeler in 1944 to examine German prisoners of war at Fort Getty, Rhode Island [17]Verified Polygraph (Baltimore Police Museum)
Confirms details about Model #301, Model #302 specifications, the Associated Research manufacturing lineage, and the Keeler Polygraph prototype history. Keeler even appeared as himself in the 1948 film noir docudrama Call Northside 777, alongside James Stewart, Richard Conte, and Lee J. Cobb [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949.

The Keeler Polygraph Institute

In 1948, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in Chicago, the world's first dedicated polygraph training school [25]Verified History of Polygraph
Confirms Reid developed the Control Question Technique in 1947, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in 1948, and PolyScore accuracy exceeding 98%. It instructed students on how to conduct and analyze polygraph examinations, formalizing professional training standards and marking the profession's transition from experimental technique to established practice requiring specialized education [25]Verified History of Polygraph
Confirms Reid developed the Control Question Technique in 1947, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in 1948, and PolyScore accuracy exceeding 98%. Many of its graduates went on to establish polygraph programs at federal agencies and police departments across the country.

Notable alumni included Norman Ansley, who after forty years of dedicated service retired from the National Security Agency [28]Verified Norman Ansley Obituary
Confirms Ansley was a graduate of the Keeler Polygraph Institute, served 40 years at the National Security Agency, and edited the APA's Polygraph Journal for 30 years. Ansley became a world-renowned authority in polygraph research, edited the APA's Polygraph Journal for 30 years, and authored or co-authored over 1,000 papers and 12 books related to psychophysiology [28]Verified Norman Ansley Obituary
Confirms Ansley was a graduate of the Keeler Polygraph Institute, served 40 years at the National Security Agency, and edited the APA's Polygraph Journal for 30 years. He compiled bibliographies of Keeler's published works and served as the profession's foremost historian [29]Verified Special Edition: Norman S. Ansley (Polygraph Journal)
Confirms Ansley's extensive contributions as polygraph historian, researcher, and chronicler of the profession. Learn more about Norman Ansley's contributions to polygraph history.

Keeler's Death and Lasting Impact

Tragically, Keeler's life was cut short. Katherine Applegate had left Keeler to marry another man, Rene Dussaq, and during World War II joined the WASPs (Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. She died in 1944 near Patterson Field in Ohio while flying solo across the country to help halt the disbanding of the WASPs [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949. Devastated by his wife's departure and later death, Keeler died on September 20, 1949, in Door County, Wisconsin, at the age of 45, after suffering a stroke brought on by stress, alcohol, and cigarettes [9]Verified Leonarde Keeler
Confirms Keeler moved to Chicago in 1930, became head of the laboratory in 1936, founded the Keeler Institute, married Katherine Applegate, and died September 20, 1949.

Since his death in 1949, no one in the polygraph field has entirely taken Keeler's place [30]Verified Special Issue: Leonarde Keeler (Polygraph Journal)
Confirms that since Keeler's death in 1949, no one in the polygraph field has taken his place, and provides Keeler biography compiled by Eloise Keeler. His records covered more than 30,000 cases during his career [11]Verified Leonarde Keeler and His Instruments (Polygraph Museum)
Confirms Western Electro Mechanical Company built the first Keeler polygraph, details the Emotograph's construction with Brandt and Woolsey, and that records cover more than 30,000 cases. The infrastructure he built — commercial manufacturing, structured training, institutional partnerships, and standardized procedures — defined the polygraph profession for generations.

From Northwestern to the World

Nearly every polygraph program in American law enforcement during the mid-20th century can be traced back to Keeler's Northwestern laboratory. The techniques he and his students developed, including the Control Question Technique, remain the foundation of modern polygraph practice. The professional organizations, training standards, and commercial relationships that exist today all descend from the ecosystem Keeler created during his transformative decade in Chicago.

Associated Research, Inc. continued manufacturing Keeler polygraph models for decades after Keeler's death, while other companies introduced competing innovations [18]Verified Polygraph (Baltimore Police Museum — Pacesetter series)
Confirms the Keeler Model #6308 Pacesetter series manufactured by Associated Research in the mid-1960s, and that it was the first Keeler instrument to use transistors. The evolution from Keeler's analog instruments to today's software-driven polygraph systems represents a continuous line of technological development. Modern validated algorithms like PolyScore have achieved accuracy rates exceeding 98% in quantifying physiological data from real criminal cases [25]Verified History of Polygraph
Confirms Reid developed the Control Question Technique in 1947, Keeler founded the Keeler Polygraph Institute in 1948, and PolyScore accuracy exceeding 98% — a remarkable advancement from the early instruments, but a direct descendant of the technology Keeler pioneered.

Keeler's story demonstrates that the founding of a professional field requires more than just a good idea or a working prototype. It requires the combination of engineering skill, institutional positioning, commercial strategy, and educational infrastructure that Keeler uniquely assembled during his transformative decade in Chicago. The entire polygraph history timeline from 1875 to 2025 bears his imprint, and the profession continues to build upon the foundation he laid. His legacy extends far beyond American borders — learn how polygraph technology reached Nigeria and West Africa and even the Soviet Union under Varlamov.

For those inspired by Keeler's legacy and interested in pursuing a career in polygraph, explore our polygraph training resources or book a polygraph test to experience the modern evolution of Keeler's pioneering technology.