Mary E. Holland

Last updated
Mary E. Holland
Detective Mary E. Holland.png
Holland in 1909
Born
Mary E. Troxel

(1868-02-25)February 25, 1868
Galena, Illinois
DiedMarch 27, 1915(1915-03-27) (aged 47)
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation Detective
Years active1904 - 1915
Known forEarly advocate of fingerprint evidence in U.S.
SpousePhilip Cosmore Holland

Mary E. Holland (February 25, 1868 - March 27, 1915) was an American detective who became an early advocate for fingerprint identification in criminal investigations. She was one of the expert witnesses in the first case in which a criminal was convicted by fingerprint evidence in the United States. She "single-handedly was responsible for the accelerated acceptance of the Henry system" [1] for classifying fingerprints in the United States. She was once called "the most noted woman criminologist in the world." [2]

Contents

Biography

Mary E. Troxel was born February 25, 1868, in Galena, Illinois, [3] [4] the daughter of Elias Daniel Troxel and Sarah Troxel (nee Miller). [5] Her father, a Methodist Minister, [6] had met Allan Pinkerton while in the military, and became an admirer of his work. He collected detective books, which Mary would read, sparking her interest in detective work. [4]

Mary Troxel married Philip Cosmore Holland in 1888. [5] Beginning in the 1880s in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, [2] Mr. Holland published The Detective, a magazine for law enforcement professionals that ran photos of wanted criminals and cataloged criminological supplies. [7] Mary was the co-editor. [5] When the magazine became successful they moved their offices to Chicago. [2]

Mary Holland also ran the Holland Detective Agency [5] [1] with offices in the Schiller Building in Chicago. [2] As a private detective she sometimes consulted on cases with the Chicago police. [8] In one dramatic case, she was hired to assist in a lease dispute and she ended up in a gunfight over possession of a saloon. [9]

Sgt. John K. Ferrier of Scotland Yard attended the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis as part of the security for an exhibit of Queen Victoria's jewels. He also had an exhibit and taught classes regarding the then-novel Henry Classification System for fingerprints. Mary Holland met Ferrier there and attended classes with him for seven and a half months. [5] She also travelled to London for further training and there she passed proficiency tests administered by Scotland Yard. [10]

She became an advocate for forensic fingerprint identification and began training local police departments around the U.S. to use it. [5] [1] According to Hawthorne she was the "strongest proponent" of the Henry system against some rivals, and was responsible for its general acceptance throughout the U.S. [1]

In 1906 Holland trained personnel from the U.S. Navy in fingerprinting, which adopted the system. [5]

There is no work a man does that a woman cannot do just as well. My belief in my sex, its brain and ability is strong and deep-rooted.

— Mary E. Holland, Detroit Free Press , 1908 [6]

In the 1910 murder trial of Thomas Jennings in Chicago, Holland was one of several experts called to verify the fingerprint evidence used to convict the accused. [5] The conviction, upheld on appeal, was the first time fingerprint evidence was used to convict a suspect in the United States. Jennings was executed on February 16, 1912. [11]

Holland also studied under Alphonse Bertillon, [6] [8] who had a system of identifying suspects by measurements and classification of mugshots. Holland became the American agent for the Bertillon system and trained others on it and sold it to local police departments. [2]

Mary Holland died on March 27, 1915 [5] at age 47. She died of pneumonia following a surgery. [3] She was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Chicago. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forensic science</span> Application of science to criminal and civil laws

Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal procedure. Forensic science is a broad field including a multitude of practices like DNA analysis, fingerprint analysis, blood stain pattern analysis, firearms examination and ballistics, tool mark analysis, serology, toxicology, hair and fiber analysis, entomology, questioned documents, anthropology, odontology, pathology, epidemiology, footwear and tire tread analysis, drug chemistry, paint and glass analysis, digital audio video and photo analysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fingerprint</span> Biometric identifier

A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfaces such as glass or metal. Deliberate impressions of entire fingerprints can be obtained by ink or other substances transferred from the peaks of friction ridges on the skin to a smooth surface such as paper. Fingerprint records normally contain impressions from the pad on the last joint of fingers and thumbs, though fingerprint cards also typically record portions of lower joint areas of the fingers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mug shot</span> Photographic portrait of a person taken after being arrested

A mug shot or mugshot is a photographic portrait of a person from the shoulders up, typically taken after a person is arrested. The original purpose of the mug shot was to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of an arrested individual to allow for identification by victims, the public and investigators. However, in the United States, entrepreneurs have recently begun to monetize these public records via the mug shot publishing industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alphonse Bertillon</span> French police officer and biometrics researcher

Alphonse Bertillon was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who applied the anthropological technique of anthropometry to law enforcement creating an identification system based on physical measurements. Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals. Before that time, criminals could only be identified by name or photograph. The method was eventually supplanted by fingerprinting.

A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent people have sometimes ended up in prison for years before their conviction has eventually been overturned. They may be exonerated if new evidence comes to light or it is determined that the police or prosecutor committed some kind of misconduct at the original trial. In some jurisdictions this leads to the payment of compensation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Henry</span> London police commissioner from 1903 to 1918

Sir Edward Richard Henry, 1st Baronet, was the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 1903 to 1918.

Alfred Edward Stratton (1882-1905) and his brother Albert Ernest Stratton (1884-1905) were the first men to be convicted in Britain for murder based on fingerprint evidence. They were both executed at 9 am on 23 May 1905 at HM Prison Wandsworth. The case, otherwise known as the Mask Murders, the Deptford Murders or the Farrow Murders, was one of the earliest convictions using forensic science.

Shirley McKie is a former Scottish police detective who was accused by fingerprint analysis staff of the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) of leaving her thumb print on the bathroom door frame of a murder crime-scene in Kilmarnock on 14 January 1997. She denied she had ever been in the house of murder victim Marion Ross, but Detective Constable McKie was initially suspended, then sacked, then arrested by Strathclyde Police in 1998, and tried and acquitted in 1999. A scandal subsequently developed because of allegations of misconduct on the part of the SCRO and the police.

Criminal Justice Information Services is a department of the Scottish Police Services Authority. Previously called the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO), it established in 1960 with a mission statement "To manage information for the Scottish Police Service, wider Criminal Justice Community and the public to assist in the prevention and detection of crime and enhance public safety." The organisation is based at Pacific Quay in Glasgow, under current Director John McLean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Crime Records Bureau</span> Indian government agency

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL). NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. Ramphal Pawar (IPS) is current Director of National Crime Record Bureau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qazi Azizul Haque</span>

Khan Bahadur Qazi Azizul Haque was a Bengali inventor and police officer in British India, notable for his work with Edward Henry and Hem Chandra Bose in developing the Henry Classification System of fingerprints, which is still in use. Haque provided the mathematical basis for the system.

Forensic science holds the branch of forensic photography which encompasses documenting both suspected and convicted criminals, and also the crime scenes, victims, and other evidence needed to make a conviction. Although photography was widely acknowledged as the most accurate way to depict and document people and objects, it was not until key developments in the late 19th century that it came to be widely accepted as a forensic means of identification.

In eyewitness identification, in criminal law, evidence is received from a witness "who has actually seen an event and can so testify in court".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body identification</span> Subfield of forensic science

Body identification is a subfield of forensic science that uses a variety of scientific and non-scientific methods to identify a body. Forensic purposes are served by rigorous scientific forensic identification techniques, but these are generally preceded by formal identification. This involves requesting a family member or friend of the victim to visually identify the body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosenthal murder case</span> Murder of Herman Rosenthal and subsequent trial

The Becker–Rosenthal trial was a 1912 trial in New York City for the murder of Herman Rosenthal, a bookmaker, by NYPD Lieutenant Charles Becker and members of the Lenox Avenue Gang. The trial ran from October 7 to October 30, 1912, and restarted on May 2 to May 22, 1914. Other procedural events took place in 1915.

Lisa J. Steele is a game designer and an attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forensic firearm examination</span> Analysis of firearms and bullets for presentation as legal evidence

Forensic firearm examination is the forensic process of examining the characteristics of firearms or bullets left behind at a crime scene. Specialists in this field try to link bullets to weapons and weapons to individuals. They can raise and record obliterated serial numbers in an attempt to find the registered owner of a weapon and look for fingerprints on a weapon and cartridges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary A. Sullivan</span> New York City Police detective (1878/1879 – 1950)

Mary Agnes Sullivan was a pioneering policewoman in New York City for 35 years. She was the first woman homicide detective in the New York City Police Department. She was also the first woman to make lieutenant, the second woman to achieve the rank of first grade detective, and the first woman inducted into the NYPD Honor Legion. She had a 35 year career with the NYPD, the last 20 of which was as director of the bureau of policewomen.

Clarence Hiller was the chief clerk in the freight department of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. He was murdered in Chicago, Illinois on September 19, 1910. Fingerprint evidence was used to convict Thomas Jennings, marking the first time fingerprint evidence was used for a conviction in the United States. The court case that followed, People v. Jennings, cemented fingerprint evidence as legally valid in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Vivianne Ruiz (Jane Doe)</span> 1991 Australian murder involving unique fingerprint evidence

The Jane Doe murder case involved the murder of an initially unknown victim who was later identified as Vivianne Lynda Ruiz. Prior to being identified, investigators and the media referred to the victim as 'Jane Doe'. It is now standard practice for police to refer to an unidentified deceased person as John or Jane Doe. The murder of Vivianne Ruiz is thought to be the first officially recorded 'Jane Doe' in Australia. The unique fingerprint evidence that would ultimately convict her killer was also unprecedented.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hawthorne, Mark (2008). Fingerprints: Analysis and Understanding. CRC Press. pp. 8, 10, 13. ISBN   978-1-4200-6864-1. OCLC   7349965510 . Retrieved June 28, 2020– via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Scientific Identification". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. October 9, 1909. p. 10. Retrieved June 28, 2020– via newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Noted Woman Detective, Mrs. Holland, Dies". Daily Review. Pomona, California. April 13, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved August 11, 2020– via newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 Stephen, Isabel (March 2, 1913). "Women Who Have Won Out in Business". Buffalo Courier . p. 36. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bradford, Russell R. (May 1993). "Mary E. Holland - America's First Fingerprint Instructor". The Print. Southern California Association of Fingerprint Officers. 14 (5): 1, 2. Archived from the original on January 22, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "Criminals Have Little Love For This Remarkable Woman". Detroit Free Press . Detroit, Michigan. June 3, 1908. p. 7. Retrieved June 28, 2020– via newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Janik, Erika (2016). Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction. Boston: Beacon Press. p. 82. ISBN   978-0807039380. OCLC   920817633.
  8. 1 2 Mullenbach, Cheryl (2016). Women in Blue : 16 Brave Officers, Forensics Experts, Police Chiefs, and More. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. p. 66. ISBN   978-1613734223. OCLC   920683298 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "Armed Women Hold A Chicago Saloon". The Evening Herald. Ottawa, Kansas. May 3, 1912. p. 8. Retrieved June 29, 2020– via newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Cole, Simon A. (1998). "Witnessing Identification: Latent Fingerprinting Evidence and Expert Knowledge". Social Studies of Science. 28 (5/6): 687–712. doi:10.1177/030631298028005002. JSTOR   285514. S2CID   144396685.
  11. ↑ Uenuma, Francine (December 5, 2018). "The First Criminal Trial That Used Fingerprints as Evidence". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Mrs. Mary Holland, Noted Detective, Dies". Chicago Examiner . March 31, 1915. p. 17. Retrieved August 11, 2020– via newspaperarchive.com.
  13. 1 2 Weir, Hugh C. (1914). Miss Madelyn Mack, Detective. Boston: The Page Company. OCLC   1130265292 . Retrieved June 28, 2020– via Internet Archive.
  14. ↑ Wlaschin, Ken (2009). Silent Mystery and Detective Movies: A Comprehensive Filmography. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 132, 191, 263. ISBN   9780786443505. OCLC   298304604 . Retrieved June 29, 2020– via Google Books.
  15. ↑ "Who was the inspiration behind Miss Madelyn Mack, Detective?". UNCG Special Collections & University Archives. University of North Carolina at Greensboro. August 19, 2015. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.