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Criminal Justice Institution

Pinkerton National Detective Agency

Also Known As The Pinkertons
National and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies

A private detective and security agency founded around 1850 in Chicago by Allan Pinkerton, for decades the largest private law enforcement organization in the world. It pioneered undercover investigation and centralized criminal records, protected president-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861, and pursued outlaws across state lines when public police forces could not. Its violent role in the 1892 Homestead strike led Congress to pass the Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Institution TypeSourced to the subject's own account
Private detective agency 1
Founded YearSourced to the subject's own account
1850 1
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois, United States 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountThe historical headquarters; the successor company operates from Ann Arbor, Michigan as a Securitas subsidiary.
Institution Type
Institution Type (category)Sourced to the subject's own account
Investigative Agency / Bureau 1
Connections

Associated With

Kate Warne, Criminologists and Reformers

Warne was hired by Allan Pinkerton in 1856 as the first female detective in the United States and later led the agency's Female Detective Bureau.

Source Wikipedia: Kate Warne

Founded By

Allan Pinkerton, Criminologists and Reformers
Source Wikipedia: Pinkerton (Detective Agency)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Pinkerton (Detective Agency)
  • Lead section
    Pinkerton is an American private investigation agency and security company established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born American cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton & Co. and finally the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
  • Founded By: Allan Pinkerton
View the Source
Wikipedia: Kate Warne
Associated With: Kate Warne, Early detective work, 1856-1861 sectionView the Source
Frequently Asked Questions

Did the Pinkertons ever catch Jesse James?

No. Despite their reputation for pursuing outlaws including the Reno Gang and Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, the agency never captured Jesse James.
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