Goddard, Calvin Hooker

1891–1955
AMERICAN
FORENSIC SCIENTIST

Over the course of his career, Major Calvin H. Goddard was responsible for a number of important advancements in the field of ballistics . With the aid of others, he created one of the most comprehensive ballistics databases of its time, and adapted the comparison microscope for use in bullet comparison. Goddard also helped established the first independent forensic crime laboratory in the United States. Because of his high level of knowledge, police often called for his help in investigations, including the high profile cases of Sacco and Vanzetti and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

Goddard earned a reputation as a forensic science pioneer because of his role in the creation of two major advancements in the field. He was especially interested in the research and study of ballistics, and, with the help of Charles Waite, began to research and collect data from all known gun manufacturers. They compiled the results and created a database of the information, one of the most comprehensive ballistics databases of its time. About this same time, Goddard and fellow scientists Waite, Phillip O. Gravelle, and John H. Fisher adapted the comparison microscope so that it could be used for bullet comparison. This capability made it much easier for examiners to identify matching bullet striations.

As Goddard became known as one of the United States's foremost ballistics experts, the police sought him out to assist on investigations across the country. In 1927, Goddard was called to help investigators with the Massachusetts robbery/murder case of Sacco and Vanzetti. By using the comparison microscope to analyze bullets from Sacco's revolver and those found at the crime scene, Goddard confirmed that Sacco's gun was used in the robbery. His conclusions were upheld in a reexamination thirty years later. Goddard was also involved in the 1929 investigation following the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago. The case revolved around the murder of seven gangsters by men dressed in Chicago police uniforms. It was unclear whether the killers were actually police officers or rival gang members dressed as police officers. Goddard, working as an independent investigator, tested the machine guns used by the Chicago police and concluded that they were not used in the murders. Later that year, after a raid on the home of one of Al Capone's hit men, two machine guns were recovered. Goddard tested these weapons and proved that they were used in the murders.

As a result of Goddard's work in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, he was asked to head the country's first independent forensic science crime laboratory, at Northwestern University. The lab provided testing of ballistics, fingerprinting, blood analysis, and trace evidence . In 1932, following the lead of Northwestern's lab, the Federal Bureau of Investigation set up its first crime laboratory, under the guidance of Goddard.

see also Ballistic fingerprints; Sacco and Vanzetti case.