The Phrenology Craze: New York's Head-Scratching 19th Century Obsession

In our modern world, people are turning to all sorts of unusual beliefs and fringe disciplines just outside the bounds of medical science and psychology, all in search of a better understanding of the human mind and the origins of personality.

In the mid-19th century, New Yorkers with similar questions became obsessed with the mysterious practice of phrenology, which promised to unlock the secrets of the brain through a careful examination and mapping of the human skull.

By the 1840s, visitors to New York City Hall and Barnum’s American Museum could walk just a short distance to the curiosity cabinet run by the Fowler family, a group of phrenologists and publishers who helped popularize this now-debunked practice.

At this very odd tourist attraction, visitors could examine rows of skulls and casts of skulls taken from both celebrated figures in human history and some of the world’s most infamous criminals.

Phrenology attracted the interest of some of the 19th century’s most notable figures, including P. T. Barnum and Walt Whitman. The Fowlers’ empire of unusual disciplines soon expanded to include mesmerism and even spiritualism. But there was also a darker side to phrenology: it was used by many to justify elitist and racist philosophies.

Greg is joined in the studio by Paul Stob, author of the new book Empire of Skulls: Phrenology, the Fowler Family, and a New Nation’s Quest to Unlock the Secrets of the Mind, to explore this strange craze, what people believed they saw when they looked at the skull, and why New York City played such a crucial role in its rise.

LISTEN NOW — THE PHRENOLOGY CRAZE

Thanks to Paul Stob for being on the Bowery Boys Podcast. His new book Empire of Skulls: Phenology, The Fowler Family and a New Nation’s Quest to Unlock the Secrets of the Mind is now available from Counterpoint Press