Graphology In America

Graphology in America

Copyright 2001 by Bob Backman

Introduction

Many people are unaware of the influence European thought has had on graphology in the United States. This article describes the early days of graphology in America. The article covers the period up to 1961.

Notions of handwriting interpretations were introduced to the United States well before Michon coined the generic term 'graphology'. These early introductions seem to have been inspired by two authors in England: Byerley (1823) who wrote an essay on handwriting interpretation in an English journal and Isaac D'Israeli (1824) who wrote a section in 'Curiosities of Literature' also published in London. In turn these two English authors had indirectly drawn on Lavater. Edgar Allan Poe is known to have read the works by Byerley and D'Israeli and he wrote two articles entitled 'Autography' which appeared in 1836. Robert Charles Sands (1838) wrote an article 'Thoughts on hand-writing' which appeared in Knicker-Bocker. He is also known to have read Byerley's essay.

Samuel Robert Wells was a physiognomist and his father-in-law, a Mr. Fowler, was a phrenologist; together they formed the publishing firm Fowler & Wells in New York City. In the early 1860s, Wells compiled a book New Physiognomy that was published by the firm in 1865, 1866, 1870. Chapter 35 is entitled 'Graphomancy' which was Wells' name for his variant of handwriting interpretation. Graphomancy was largely based on Moreau (1806) which was a French translation of Lavater's pioneering work on physiognomy from the 1770s. Moreau's translation also included information from Hocquart and Moreau himself.

In the 1880s an editor of a Pennsylvania newspaper began to publish questions and answers concerning coal mining. In 1891 he prepared a course covering this field, to be offered by the correspondence method. Other cognate courses were soon added, and within a decade this organization grew into the International Correspondence Schools, offering about 300 courses by 1928. Many private ventures rapidly followed the I.C.S. pattern and by 1928 there were 498 private correspondence schools in the US, enrolling annually more than a million students. This concept was soon applied to graphology; for example Edith Macomber Hall of the N.Y. Institute of Science, Rochester, NY offered a correspondence course (1903-1904).

In 1882, Mary Hanna Booth became interested in graphology through an "amazing" analysis of her handwriting made by Rosa Baughan. Miss Booth received face-to-face tuition from Baughan in England and had to import books on graphology from England, as there were none available in America at the time. From 1896 Hugo von Hagen did much to interest Americans in graphology, he was a member of the Paris Graphology Society. He founded the first American Graphological Society in Boston in 1892, but seldom did it have over 30 members, finally withering away around 1921.

1900 to the depression

As early as 1900, Miss Booth was contributing articles on graphology to various business journals, and later to periodicals such as Bookkeeper (Detroit), and Stenographer (Philadelphia). She also had a thrice-weekly column in a Philadelphia newspaper. When she sent her first graphological printing order to her printer, he corrected it to "geographical" thinking that she did not know how to spell, since in 1900 few Americans had heard of graphology.

There is evidence of several other people operating in the field of graphology at this time. Clifford Howard wrote a book Graphology sold under the pen-name of Simon Arke (1903) and then from 1905 onwards as Howard. In partnership with Mills Dean he operated a correspondence school in graphology between 1903-1906. From 1904 to 1911 Professor George E. Beauchamp in New York City advertised graphological readings and lessons. Prentiss Bailey, editor of a respected Utica, New York newspaper resorted to the nom de plume of John Rexford to write a book about his hobby in 1905. In 1907 Julia Seton Sears published her book Grapho-psychology and she offered analyses by post.

In 1908 Louise Rice, a newspaperwoman and freelance writer, took lessons in graphology from Miss Booth. In 1910 Miss Booth distributed a little 3-by-5 inch leaflet entitled "Signature Design", an article which first appeared in Stenographic And Phonographic Worlds, a commercial education journal devoted to teaching shorthand in business colleges. Her book of 72 pages followed this.

One of the most expert penmen in America, Louis H. Hausam, wrote, published and was selling a 16 page booklet on graphology, this was in circulation around 1910.

From late 1911 to early 1918 Harry H. Balkin performed a vaudeville act in theatres all over America and Canada. On these tours he claimed to have analyzed thousands of individuals using physiognomy, phrenology, palmistry and graphology. In 1918 he compiled his book The New Science of Analyzing Character with six pages on graphology, largely based on Howard's book. William Leslie French was the writer of numerous articles published in various monthly magazines and newspapers from about 1912 until 1921. These were brought together in his 1922 book The Psychology of Handwriting.

From 1916 to 1925 DeWitt B. Lucas became the foremost promoter of graphology in America. During World War II he worked for the Navy Department in Washington as a graphologist and immediately after the war he conducted a correspondence course in the subject. In August 1919 Lucas began his quarterly house organ Knowing People concerned with graphology.

June E. Downey was a full-time University Professor. In 1920 Warwick & York published her book Graphology and the Psychology of Handwriting. Here was an American woman of academic status who was interested enough to brave the censure of other professors, and write about graphology. She presented her findings in an exceedingly logical manner. Also in 1920 Albert L. Smith became prominent in the subject with Applied Graphology. A reputable textbook publisher in New York, known for good business books, published this book. Applied Graphology was actually used as a textbook for classes in graphology at over 50 different business colleges. In 1923 Smith set up his own graphology correspondence school in Boston.

About 1924 Louise Rice set up her correspondence school, The Rice Institute of Graphology in New York City. Rice had a regular column in the New York Evening Telegram, which yielded thousands of requests for analyses and her students