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History of Forensics at NIST
Dr. Wilmer Souder in the National Bureau of Standards Identification Laboratory, 1935.
The nation’s first crime lab
In 1913, the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) began supporting forensic science and functioning as the nation's de facto crime lab. NIST's Wilmer Souder became one of the nation's first federal forensic scientists. Widely regarded as an expert in a number of nascent forensic fields -- such as ballistics, forgery, and materials analysis -- Souder provided expert testimony in a number of cases. In 1932 he helped establish the FBI's crime lab and in 1935 his testimony on handwriting samples helped convict Richard Hauptmann in the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh’s son.
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