The Rise and Fall of Katherine Blackford's Character Analysis

Dr. Katherine Blackford's writings on physiognomy-based character analysis were popular in the business community during the period roughly from 1914 to 1925. I document the rise of the Blackford System of character analysis and discuss how she gained influence in the business community. I outline how industrial psychologists collected data to disprove her theories and I argue that those efforts that attempted to delineate evidence-based practice from her methods were some of the first efforts to show that science mattered in the workplace. In addition, Blackford's media savviness taught applied psychologists that to have an impact across a broader audience, they needed to better market themselves. Although industrial psychologists succeeded in discrediting Blackford's system, I argue that her work exerted significant influence on the methodology and practice of early industrial psychology.