Pinkerton's National Detective Agency records
Contributors: Bangs, George H.; Pinkerton, Allan, 1819-1884; Pinkerton, Allan, 1876-1930; Pinkerton, Robert A., 1904-1967; Pinkerton, Robert A. (Robert Allan), 1848-1907; Pinkerton, William A. (William Allan), 1846-1923
Language: eng
Number of pages: 183
Subjects: World War, 1914-1918; Private investigators; National security; Coal miners; Molly Maguires (Organization); Civil defense; Law enforcement; Crime; United States; Secret service; Labor unions; United States. Army of the Potomac; William J. Burns International Detective Agency; Sabotage; Espionage; History
Description: Correspondence, diaries, essays and other writings, reports, notes, police and prison records, code books, criminal rosters, exhibition texts, legal documents, biographical and genealogical records, procedural guidelines and training manuals, financial records, card indexes, photographs, reward notices, wanted posters, illustrations, maps, and other records chiefly documenting the work of the private detective agency for clients in business and industry.  Includes papers of Pinkerton family members who led the agency, Allan (1819-1884), Allan's sons William A. (1846-1923) and Robert A. (1848-1907), Robert's son, Allan (1876-1930), and Allan's son, Robert A. (1904-1967).   Also includes papers of George H. Bangs, longtime general superintendent of the New York office.

Documents investigative methods, business principles and practices, and daily business activities.  Topics include establishment by Pinkerton of the secret service in 1861 to protect the president and provide military intelligence for the Army of the Potomac, sabotage and espionage in the Washington, D.C., area during the Civil War, labor unrest and unionization in the Pennsylvania coal region, reports of James P. McParland in the investigation of the Molly Maguires, homeland security during World War I, the William J. Burns International Detective Agency, and criminals including Herman Mudgett, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid.
Notes: Open to research.

Microfilm edition of letterpress copybooks and reports available, no. 16,574.

Microfilm produced from originals in the Manuscript Division. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1975.

Gift, Robert A. Pinkerton, 1956.

Gift, Pinkerton's Inc., 2000.

Purchase, 1972-2000.

transferred to Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Private detective agency founded circa 1850 in Chicago, Ill., by Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884).

Collection material in English.

Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room and at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms003007