Criminal Activity at the National Archives

The National Archives are a rich resource for those interested in the history of the Untied States government. These National Archives tell the story of our history, sometimes written in the actual hand by a historical figure such as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. These historically significant documents range from letters from former presidents and from soldiers in conflicts such as the Civil War. The public can view these documents; however, there is a strong concern over the theft of these precious documents. Occasionally, some documents sometimes go missing and end up on the black market. These documents are irreplaceable and securing them from thieves while still allowing public viewing of them poses quite a challenge.

A theft of Civil War letters from the National Archives
The Smithsonian Magazine has an intriguing article that involves rare Civil War letters, Civil War buff brothers, a seller on eBay and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Stolen Civil War letters turn up on eBay and two brothers recognize their significance. They also realize that there is a crime involved because these documents are apparently stolen. They work with authorities to help capture the crooks in this daring caper of stolen historical documents.

Read More About the stolen Civil war letters caper at Smithsonian Magazine
Read more about this crime and what the outcome was by visiting the Smithsonian Magazine. The Smithsonian Magazine offers an interesting article for those curious about the National Archives. To read the article, log on to http://www.smithsonianmag.com/.

National Archives, Cleopatra, Quincy Jones, Wrigley Field, Diane Arbus, the Phantom of the Opera

A Crime Takes Place at the National Archives

For those that are interested in history and government, one of the resources this great country of ours offers is the National Archives. At the National Archives you can find a wide selection of priceless and historically significant artifacts from documents dating back to the Revolutionary War, papers from former presidents and letters from soldiers that fought the Civil War. While the National Archives tries as hard as possible to allow access to the public, theft and vandalism are important considerations. Unfortunately, the National Archives has so many papers; from time to time some can go missing and end up on the black market. Recently, this is exactly what happened with rare Civil War letters written by a soldier.

A Crime is Committed at the National Archives
This is a story about rare civil war letters, two brothers that are Civil War buffs, an EBay seller and the FBI. If you have an interest in crime capers, this is one that is sure to please. A bunch of rare civil war letters is stolen from the National Archives and is sold on the internet, fortunately two brothers that are both history and Civil War buffs realize a crime has been committed and contact the proper authorities to lay a trap for the thief.

Read More About this Crime Mystery at Smithsonian Magazine
You can read more about this crime and how it ultimately played out by visiting the Smithsonian Magazine. The Smithsonian Magazine offers an interesting article for those curious about the National Archives. To read it, please visit the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

National Archives, Cheetah Facts, Glacier National Park, Quincy Jones, Diane Arbus, Phanotom of the Opera

National Archives: A Crime Mystery

One of America’s great institutions is the National Archives. The National Archives was centralized in 1934 and today it holds a wealth of information from our nation’s history. For historians, researchers and citizens, the National Archives is a great resource to find important papers from our presidents, documents that are valuable to understanding our history, letters from average citizens that help us understand events and much more. While the National Archives does have many security procedures in place to reduce theft and vandalism, certain incidents continue to occur. Recently, the National Archives was involved in a crime mystery regarding obscure Civil War Letters.

A Crime Takes Place
For those that enjoy reading or reenacting the Civil War, civil war letters from soldiers that actually fought the many battles are indispensable in understanding the events of that time. There are thousands of Civil War buffs in the country and many vie for Civil War memorabilia which can definitely cause many pieces including written documents to be extremely expensive. While there are quite a few Civil War letters available on the open market, every so often, items are sold illegally- usually stolen from collections or archives. Recently Civil War letters turned up on the black market that were actually removed from the National Archives.

A Crime Unfolds
When Civil War documents are stolen, many times they are sold in very secret channels, however with the innovation of the internet, it is easier than ever to find buyers based around the country or around the world and in this situation, Civil War letters were put up for sale on Ebay.com (an online auction site). However, thanks to two brothers who are knowledge in Civil War memorabilia it was realized that these letters for sale on EBay.com were possibly stolen from the National Archives.

Through lots of research, some good leads and the help of the FBI and EBay, a crime that could have removed priceless artifacts from the National Archives was averted. To read more about this fascinating crime caper, the Smithsonian Magazine has an article on the subject. To read it, please visit our main website at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

Cheetah Facts, Daredevil, National Archives, Diane Arbus, Quincy Jones

National Archives: A Crime Caper

The National Archives is one of America’s finest institutions. For many years they have collected invaluable presidential paper, letters on historical American events and documents that help current researchers and those that will come along in the future to understand our country, its government and its people.

A Crime Caper
While the National Archives has plenty of security in place to protect its documents and artifacts from being stolen and destroyed, there are times when items disappear. Recently, two brothers that are Civil War buffs, Ebay and the FBI worked together to catch a crook selling stolen materials from the National Archives. Since there is a black market for unique items- especially those dating back to the Civil War, it is no surprised that there is plenty of motivation to try to steal them and sell them on the open market.

Read More About this Mystery
It was only a little while ago when a mysterious group of Civil War letters were up for sale on Ebay. A group of letters that were suspicious to two brothers that are Civil War buffs, after realizing the letters must have been stolen, they contacted the FBI and a sting was put in place to catch a thief. To read more about the National Archives and this fascinating story, visit the Smithsonian Magazine’s website today at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

Forbidden City, Daredevil, Tattoo Art, Cleopatra, National Archives, Cheetah Facts

The Crime Mystery at the National Archives

The National Archives is one of our most prestigious institutions. For those that love history, politics and the ideas and philosophies that made this country great, the National Archives have been protecting documents, letters and papers for a long period of time. While the National Archives tries as hard as possible to allow as much access to these incredible documents, it does has strong policies in place to protect papers from theft and damage, unfortunately since there is a black market for many of these documents, thefts do occur. One recently was stifled by two brothers, EBay and the FBI.

Civil War Letters Sold on the Open Market
The National Archives were recently involved in a sting operation of invaluable Civil War letters that were stolen from the archives. however, two Civil War buff brothers came to the rescue when they realized that something wasn’t right when one brother tried to buy a Civil War Letter for the other’s birthday on EBay. Once suspicion arose, the FBI was called in and a sting operation was put into place.

If you enjoy a good criminal mystery and a happy ending, the National Archives theft of Civil War letters is a great story. The Smithsonian Magazine offers a fantastic article about the series of events and how this crime drama played out. You can read it at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

Quincy Jones, Forbidden City, Tattoo Art, Diane Arbus, Cheetah Facts, National Archives

True Crimes and the National Archives

While it is common to hear about famous paintings being robbed from top museums around the world, many don’t realize that there is a fairly sized black market that trades important paper, letters and documents as well. The National Archives is one of America’s most prestigious institutions, its mission is to save, store and protect some of the most important documents that range from papers from our founding fathers, documents from presidents and even letters from soldiers fighting wars. Throughout a large part of our country’s history, the National Archives has been doing a fine job of keeping these documents safe so that the public can view them and research our past. While there are plenty of policies in place to ensure these documents are not damaged or stolen, in certain situations, documents from the National Archive have been stolen and sold on the black market. This is one such story of a mysterious crime that recently involved the National Archives, EBay, the FBI and two brothers.

Shopping on EBay for a Gift Uncovers Something Strange
Innocently enough, this crime caper starts with Jim Thomas, searching for a gift for his Civil War buff brother. As he searched EBay, he came across an exciting find. One seller was offering documents that seemed to belong to the National Archives, following his suspicions, he dug deeper into this mystery.

Jim Thomas searching for a gift for his brother Dean came across Civil War letters found on EBay. As he was about to spend a considerable amount of money on the purchase, he wanted to make sure that Dean was sure to like them. As Jim talked to Dean about the letters, Dean felt a little strange as he never heard of these letters before and thought it could be a scam. As Dean began to look deeper into the origin of these letters and started to research the sellers offering, he did find a letter he recognized, it was a letter that Dean made a photocopy of several years ago- Suspiciously, it was a photocopy made while looking at historical documents in the National Archives.

Read More About How this Crime was Eventually Solved
To Read more about the incredible crime that took place at the National Archives and how good police work, technology and the passion of two Civil War buffs caught a thief, please visit the Smithsonian Magazines main website at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

National Archives, Diane Arbus, Cheetah Facts, Cleopatra, Tattoo Art

National Archives: A Civil War Crime

One of the most prestigious institutions in America is the National Archives. With the importance of knowledge and history, our country has done a fine job at collecting, saving and archiving our most important documents from the very beginning as colonies up until the present. You will find wonderful papers by our founding fathers, important documents from our presidents and even letters from those that fought in the Civil War.

While the National Archive'sNational Archive’s goal is to give access to important and priceless document to all citizens, it also has to balance this access with procedures that reduce the risk of theft and destruction. Unfortunately, there is still a black market for many of these documents if they are ever stolen and with new technology, it is easier than ever to find buyers located around the US and the world.

Recently, rare Civil War era documents were stolen unknowingly from the National Archives and made there way to sale on EBay (an online auction site). For those that love a good crime caper, the Smithsonian Magazine offers an article on how two Civil War buffs, the FBI and EBay all worked together to track down this thief. To read it, please visit our main website at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

Phantom of the Opera, Cleopatra, Tattoo Art, Diane Arbus, Quincy Jones, National Archives

A Crime at the National Archives

The National Archives is one of our most beloved institutions. At the National Archives extremely rare and important documents are kept for safe keeping. While public access is allowed, there are practical policies in place to protect these documents from being altered, stolen and vandalized. Unfortunately, once in a while an important or extremely rare document is stolen and sold on the black market. This is a story about Civil War letters from the National Archives that were stolen and then sold on the black market- in this case EBay.

There are plenty of Civil War enthusiasts and many are not only passionate about its history, but also about artifacts such as letters and documents. In order to be a proficient Civil War enthusiast, you also have to be a scholar of this war and quite adept and researching artifacts. In this case, two brothers that were Civil War buffs were able to purchase letters from the war that had a high probability of being stolen from the National Archives. With the help of the FBI and EBay, this incredible crime mystery unfolded.

To learn more about this mystery and how Civil War letters were stolen from the National Archives and ultimately recovered, please visit our article at the Smithsonian Magazine’s main site at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

National Archives, Forbidden City, Diane Arbus, Daredevil, Quincy Jones, Parthenon

The National Archives and the Theft of Civil War Memorabilia

The National Archives is one of the most prestigious institutions in America. And since our nation has a voracious appetite for knowledge, the National Archive has preserved many of our most important documents pertaining to historical events and culture. Some of the documents that are stored in the National Archives include letters from presidents, documents from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.

While the National Archives have many security procedures in place to reduce theft, there have been instances where important, rare documents have been stolen and sold on the black market to collectors. With new technology, the black market has grown exponentially and many thieves now sell documents over the internet at sites that include Ebay.

Recently, some rare documents from the Civil War Era were stolen unknowingly from the National Archives and sold online. The Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting article on the theft and how two Civil War scholars, the FBI and Ebay all worked together to track down a thief. If you love Civil War Memorabilia and a good crime caper, you will be fascinated with this story. To read it, please visit our main website at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

National Archives, Glacier National Park, Diane Arbus, Daredevil

Catching a Thief of the National Archives

One of the great aspects of our nation is the hunger for knowledge. Early in our nation’s existence we set up many institutions that fostered this hunger. One institution is the National Archives, which houses some of our country’s most important and historically relevant documents some of which include documents from the Revolutionary War, important letters written by Presidents and documents from the Civil War among others.

While the National Archives is open to the general public with necessary security to reduce theft, there are on occasion documents that are stolen. One such batch of documents that was stolen, was recently found after much intense detective work and some help from Civil War buffs. This incredible story involves Ebay, two brothers, the National Archives and many more making it an intriguing story.

To read about this fascinating case of stolen Civil War documents from the National Archives and how they were ultimately returned, the Smithsonian Magazine offers an excellent and insightful article on the subject. You can visit us and read the article today by following the link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

Quincy Jones, Glacier National Park, National Archives

Crime, Mystery and Intrigue at the National Archives

Our nation has always encouraged the spread of knowledge and one of the ways it has made a commitment to this ideal is by creating the National Archives to keep our country’s most important and historically relevant documents.  Whether you would like to see original documents dating back from the Revolutionary War, important letters written by presidents or documents created by ordinary folks during important historical periods such as the Civil War, the National Archive is the place to visit.

In its quest to ensure that its documents enrich American’s lives, the public is invited to view practically all of its archives.  Unfortunately, being so vast and encompassing, sometimes this access can lead to vandalism and theft of valuable documents.  One incredible incident written about in Smithsonian Magazine includes extremely valuable letters, a Civil War enthusiast and Ebay.  If you love mystery, intrigue and priceless National Archive historical documents, this real life crime caper should not be missed.

The mystery in question takes place when a Civil War enthusiast finds priceless letters for sale available on Ebay, however after careful research, the letters should not be in the hands of a private collector, but the National Archive.  For more information on how this crime caper plays out, visit the Smithsonian Magazine at the following link:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com

Daredevil, Black Holes, National Archives, Wrigley Field

The National Archives: To Catch a Thief

The National Archives store some of the most priceless and historically relevant documents ever created. While the National Archives tries to offer the public as much access as possible, there are always risks of thievery and damage. One such story of thievery is actually quite intriguing and includes aspects of a birthday gift, EBay and priceless Civil War documents.

For those interested in the Civil War, letters written by soldiers are some of the most insightful documents available for understanding the psyche of these soldiers and of the times. Because of their value, these documents can fetch tens of thousands of dollars on the open market. The National Archive has been collecting the most important documents pertaining to the Civil War from the very beginning and its archives are sometimes so vast that little is known about every document that is archived.

While browsing on EBay for a birthday present for his Civil War buff’s brother, Dean Thomas came across incredible Civil War Letters. Immediately concerned as to why know one knew these letters existed, he and his brother started to look intently at the offering and the seller. What happens next is an interesting story that involves the National Archives, federal agents and the expertise of Civil War historians. You can read more about this extraordinary story of how to catch a thief at Smithsonian’s Magazine site at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com

National Archives, The Phantom of the Opera, Glacier National Park, Cleopatra

The National Archives: Catching a Thief

Who would expect that browsing through eBay could involve them in a major government sting operation? But that’s exactly what happened to eBay shopper and Civil War buff Dean Thomas. When he recognized an eBay seller’s offerings as documents that belonged in the National Archives, he got into something a bit bigger than he expected.

Dean’s relationship with the National Archives started with his brother, Jim. Searching for a gift for his Civil War-loving brother, Jim came across some Civil War letters for sale on eBay. Wanting to make sure Dean would like them, he had his brother take a look before buying. Dean loved the letters… but felt a bit strange about them. How had he never heard of them before?

Then Dean started to look a little more deeply into this particular seller’s offerings. Among them was another letter-- and this one Dean recognized. Sifting through his files, he found a photocopy he’d made years ago of the very same Civil War letter. He’d made the copy while looking through historical materials at the National Archives... after all, he couldn’t take it with him, as taking documents from the National Archives is illegal.

Dean immediately understood that the National Archives had been robbed. Comparing his files to the eBay seller’s documents, Dean found that he had copies from the National Archives for a total of four documents. But the big question was, how much had this seller stolen?

Answering it would turn out to be the hard part. Upon discovering the crime, Dean called the National Archives and spoke with a special agent. While they had a good idea of who the suspect was --after all, his full name and address were part of his eBay account-- what they didn’t know was how much had been stolen. The National Archives doesn’t have a full record of what’s in the archives-- anything could have been missing.

Soon, Dean was pulled into a sting operation for the National Archives. The agent asked him to contact the suspect, Denning McTague, to request to meet to discuss buying more letters. And on an early morning in October, 2006, a team of federal raiders and representatives from the National Archives swarmed McTague’s Philadelphia apartment. McTague wasn’t home, and, somewhat anticlimactically, the National Archives and the raiders got a quick confession out of McTague over the phone.

It turns out McTague worked as an intern at the National Archives for several months. His supervisor even remembers McTague showing him some of the more interesting documents he came across-- many of which were part of the 164 (or more) documents he ended up stealing.

McTague wasn’t the first to steal from the National Archives, and probably won’t be the last. To learn more about the National Archives --including what else has gone missing-- visit the Smithsonian Magazine Website at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/