I just ran across this announcement. There's probably some
intereasting stuff on Hammett buried somewhere in the
Archive. Maybe we can finally know for sure if that Ferris
Wheel (or was it a Merry Go 'Round?) story is true.
Library of Congress to Receive Pinkerton Archives Pinkerton's
Inc., the nation's oldest and largest security services
company, has donated its archives to the Library of Congress.
The archives document the history of the Pinkerton National
Detective Agency, founded in 1850 by Scottish immigrant Allan
Pinkerton, one of the most important figures in crime
detection and law enforcement during the latter half of the
19th century. Approximately 100 boxes of documents and
photographs will be added to the Library's Manuscript
Division, which holds nine volumes of Mr. Pinkerton's Civil
War correspondence. The archives encompass the period from
1850 to 1938 and have never been accessible to the public.
Selective access was given only to a limited number of
authors and historians.
"We are honored that the Library of Congress considers our
archives to be of historical significance and are proud to
share the details of our organization's past with the
nation," said Don W. Walker, Pinkerton's president. "It is
particularly fitting that we make this gift in the year we
also celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Pinkerton
Agency." The archives donation is part of the Gifts to the
Nation Bicentennial Project to celebrate the 200th
anniversary of the Library of Congress in 2000. The Gifts to
the Nation Project encourages benefactors to donate rare and
important materials to the national collection in the
Library. The archives include the following materials: 195
binders on criminal investigations; a large collection of
photographs, including criminal
"mug shots" of the day; biographical information on Mr.
Pinkerton and his sons, William and Robert, who continued to
run the agency after their father's death; correspondence;
personnel files; promotional materials; canvassing papers;
privately printed works of instruction for detectives; and
privately published volumes on topics of interest of the
agency. Highlights of the archives include:
"The Tent Picture" of Mr. Pinkerton, outside his quarters,
after the Battle of Antietam, in October 1862, with President
Lincoln and General John McLernand, a former Chicago
attorney. In letters from William Pinkerton, who accompanied
his father during the Civil War as a 16-year-old cadet, he
recalled that a portrait of the president alone had been
planned, but Mr. Lincoln had ushered his two Chicago friends
into the picture. Two 1903 letters from William Rudolph, "The
Missouri Kid," to William Pinkerton, in effect begging him to
save his life. Mr. Rudolph, a young and extremely violent
bank robber, had murdered in cold blood a novice detective
who was the son of a Pinkerton superintendent. The letters
were written from jail, following Mr. Rudolph's capture after
an escape and long manhunt. Mr. Rudolph later was hanged. An
original 1901 photograph, by DeYoung Studio, in New York, of
Harry Longbaugh, "The Sundance Kid," and his mistress, Etta
Place, taken just before their departure for Argentina.
Pinkerton detectives learned of the photograph when they were
in Manhattan weeks later investigating the rumored
embarkation of the "Wild Bunch" leaders. Mr. DeYoung, who
knew nothing about the notoriety of his customers, reportedly
was impressed with their elegance, and supposed that they
were members of "Western Society." This is the only known
photograph of Ms. Place. Pinkerton cropped separately the
images of Ms. Place and Mr. Longbaugh, and reproduced both in
WANTED posters. Of the 195 criminal investigations binders,
two-thirds cover the period of Pinkerton's greatest activity
in criminal work, from 1880 to 1910. The binders contain
photographs and sketches of criminals, suspects and gang
members, as well as Pinkerton operatives; photographs and
illustrations of burglar tools, safe-cracking equipment, and
crimes in progress; REWARD and WANTED posters and handbills;
many press clippings from 1870 to 1938; penciled daily draft
reports from detectives; criminal histories (Pinkerton "rap
sheets"), gang histories, and crime chronologies. Also
included are "office narratives," written by clerks, covering
all or parts of an investigation; interoffice communications
concerning investigations; correspondence with local law
enforcement officials; correspondence with Pinkerton
informants; letters to Pinkerton from criminals; and
correspondence between criminals. Ownership of the detective
agency remained in the Pinkerton family for many years. In
1884, Mr. Pinkerton passed the agency to his sons, William
and Robert. His grandson, Allan II, inherited the agency in
1907, and his great- grandson, Robert II, in 1930. When
Robert Pinkerton II died in 1967, without a male heir, family
direction of the corporation came to an end. Pinkerton's
Inc., has since grown to a $1.5 billion organization that
provides a wide range of security services. The company has
its U.S. headquarters in Westlake Village, Calif., and is a
member of the Securitas Group of Stockholm, Sweden, a world
leader in the security industry. A selection of
high-resolution digital photographs from the archives are
available via email from pao@loc.gov.
# # # PR 00-074 5/24/00 ISSN 0731-3527
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