Museum Receives Corrections-related Collection from Grand Traverse County (MI) Sheriff's Office

As we celebrate National Correctional Officers and Employees Week (May 6-12), we’d like to share some interesting corrections-related artifacts the Museum recently acquired.

Last week, the Grand Traverse County (MI) Sheriff’s Office donated a unique collection, which includes a handcrafted contraband weapon confiscated from an inmate at the Grand Traverse County Correctional Facility in 1971; a makeshift bullet; other accessories and design sketches; and a print magazine with a bullet hole.

At the correctional facility, these items were voluntarily given up to corrections officers after an inmate test-fired the weapon into a magazine (an issue of Argosy, an American pulp magazine published from 1882-1978). After drawing up plans on scrap paper, the inmate crafted the body of the weapon out of paper, including cigarette paper and gum wrappers. A piece of his bed frame made the weapon’s barrel. The bullet is the metal, eraser-end of a pencil, and match-heads were smashed up to provide gunpowder. The bullet could be loaded into the barrel using a paper casing like a wad, similar to the way muzzles are loaded. When the inmate test-fired the “gun,” the “bullet” nearly punctured all the way through the magazine.

R0291.2 Pistol; handmade contraband weapon made mainly of paper 

R0291.3 Bullet; metal eraser-end of a pencil used as bullet in handmade weapon

R0291.1 Sketches; pencil drawings of weapon design

R0291.6 Serial: Argosy with partial bullet-hole at center

Officers tossed the weapon and related materials into a drawer where they remained until rediscovered in the 1990s. The items were then put on display in their academy training room, used to inform officers about how inmates may create contraband weapons using whatever time, tools, and materials they can get.

It is interesting to note that Grand Traverse County Correctional facility became a non-smoking facility in 2000; matches and cigarettes are no longer allowed.

This fascinating collection is one example of how the corrections profession will be highlighted in the National Law Enforcement Museum.

Inaugural Honor at the Castle Gala - Proceeds Benefit the Museum

Last week, the first Honor at the Castle Gala was held at Oheka Castle in Huntington, on Long Island, New York. The event, hosted by Memorial Fund supporters Stuart and Lisa Levine of The Zellman Group, LLC, was held to pay tribute to America’s peace officers and their families, and to raise funds for the National Law Enforcement Museum.

The Gala honored Nassau County Police Officers Geoffrey Breitkopf and Michael Califano, and ATF Officer John Capano, and their families, some of whom were in attendance.

"It's just nice to see after all the months that have past, to see my husband still remembered and honored and to know that he's not going to be forgotten ... that so much is being done for him," said Jacqueline Califano.

Actor Mark Feuerstein emceed the event and singer and songwriter Range performed his new song, “Lay it down.” When asked about the song’s meaning, he said, "It's about the police officers and soldiers that put their life on the line everyday to keep us free and keep us happy.”

A big thank you to all who attended the special event for their generous contributions to the Museum.

Recollections and Thoughts from Air Florida Flight 90 First Responders, 30 Years Later

At the National Law Enforcement Museum’s most recent Witness to History event, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus shared his experiences as a law enforcement first responder following the Air Florida Flight 90 crash of January 13, 1982, in Washington, DC. Chief McManus’s memories were featured in a Museum Insider article, “Witness to History: Air Florida Flight 90 Crash, January 13, 1982,” which sparked other first responders to share their recollections of this tragic event.

On January 13, 1982, shortly before 4:00 p.m. on a snowy winter day, Air Florida Flight 90 (called “Palm 90” by air traffic control that day) took off from National Airport, located along the Potomac River. Ice-clogged sensors prevented the Boeing 737 from reaching the proper altitude and about a mile after takeoff it slammed into the top of the 14th Street Bridge, ripping into pieces as it plunged into the ice-covered river. Only five people on board the aircraft survived; the other 74 passengers and crew perished, as did four motorists commuting on the bridge.

Don Usher, a United States Park Police (USPP) pilot, responded to the disaster in Eagle 1, a Bell single-rotor helicopter. Mr. Usher recalled the frigid weather as the biggest challenge the rescue operations faced. “The water temperature was very cold,” he recounted. “The passengers had been in the water 20 minutes when we arrived. The rescues took 10 minutes longer.”

The rescue operations were also hampered by the lack of appropriate rescue equipment available to the USPP. He wrote, “During the Palm 90 incident, our rescue equipment was limited to several ‘throwballs’ that inflated into small circular life rings, a tow strap from the helicopter, and a borrowed ring buoy and line we obtained from a fire unit on the scene along the Potomac.” Mr. Usher noted that, because of the Air Florida crash, the U.S. Park Police subsequently purchased—and used extensively—several rescue nets for water rescue operations.

In 1982, Jim Boyd, an officer with the District Heights Police Department in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and a volunteer underwater team rescue diver for the County Fire Department, joined the disaster response efforts. Like Mr. Usher, Mr. Boyd understood that the cold and threat of hypothermia for the crash survivors were their biggest challenges. As a rescue diver, he vividly recalled that what stood out to him “…was how cold you could get even in a dry suit after 10 minutes in the water and how difficult it was to warm up before doing it again.” Profoundly affected by the events of that day, Mr. Boyd said recovering the bodies of the airline passengers who lost their lives was life-changing and still haunts him today.

Through the reflections of these first responders, it’s evident that the Air Florida disaster deeply affected those involved in the rescue and recovery efforts. Chief McManus called it the “most horrific event” of his career, until the events of 9/11 and the plane crashed into the Pentagon. Mr. Usher regretted that neither he nor other rescuers were able to save the life of Arland Williams, the heroic “last passenger” who kept passing the helicopter life ring to other survivors in the icy cold waters of the Potomac River. Mr. Boyd said that if he could go back, he would have “prayed a lot more for the safety” of all those involved.

Collections Update: Museum Acquires Historic Railroad Policing Collection

The Burlington, Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Company recently donated to the Museum historic archival records relating to their company’s law enforcement service. Personnel files, wanted posters, telegraph code books, photographs, railroad maps, and case reports from special agents dating from the late 19th through the mid 20th century, and many other items make up this eclectic and valuable collection.

Wanted Posters and Code Book, ca. 1920-1940. 2011.3. Collection of the National Law Enforcement Museum, Washington, D.C.

The BNSF Railroad, founded in 1849 with rail lines laid in Illinois, expanded and merged with other railroads over the decades, and by the late 20th century provided rail service to the western two-thirds of the United States, as well as parts of Mexico and Canada.

Collections and Education Assistant Joy Veenstra examines a code book from the BNSF Railroad Collections.

If you have information, photographs, objects, or documents that will help expand this collection, or have anything to share related to railroad policing, please contact the Museum at museum@nleomf.org.

To read more about the history of railroad policing: http://www.nleomf.org/officers/stories/rich-history-of-railroad.html.

Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre: Chicago, 1929

Originally known as St. Valentine’s Day in honor of the early Christian martyr named Valentinus, the holiday that falls on February 14 each year has become a non-religious celebration of love, with such symbols as hearts and Cupid’s arrows printed on mass-produced greeting cards, boxes of chocolates, balloons and more.

But this annual day of love has seen its fair share of violence and brutality. One such occurrence happened 83 years ago today: the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929 in Chicago.



That day, four men posing as police officers entered a local warehouse where George “Bugs” Moran’s gang had been known to store liquor, presumably announcing a raid, which police routinely conducted during Prohibition. They entered the building and ordered seven men, six of them members of Moran’s gang, to line up facing the wall. The police imposters then uncovered machine guns and opened fire, killing all seven men.

The prime suspect was notorious Chicago gangster Alphonse “Scarface” Capone, who became known in the newspapers as “Public Enemy No. 1.” Law enforcement officials, however, could not prove Capone had anything to do with the massacre, since he was in Miami at the time. No one was ever tried for the seven murders.

The massacre launched a public outcry for law enforcement to put a permanent stop to the Chicago gang violence that had soared in the 1920s with the alcohol ban, an unusual reaction from a public numbed by the violence. According to a New York Times piece that ran shortly after the February 1929 events unfolded, local law enforcement officers reacted by taking an aggressive stance on smothering gang activity, gaining control and restoring justice. “It’s a war to the finish,” Chicago Police Commissioner Russell said. “I’ve never known of a challenge like this - the killers posing as policemen - but now the challenge has been made, it’s accepted. We’re going to make this the knell of gangdom in Chicago. ”

As a result of the massacre, federal authorities had reasons to begin investigating Capone, which moved the gang problem to a different jurisdiction than the local Chicago police. Capone eventually faced a string of arrests for other offenses (contempt of court, carrying concealed weapons, income tax evasion) until being released from prison in 1939, dying a recluse in his Miami home eight years later. Although his reputation as a ruthless gangster and his power over the city was clinched on Valentine’s Day, it also brought the beginning of law enforcement involvement that brought about his downfall.



(Pictured: the S.M.C. Cartage garage at the time of the Massacre, with a crowd of curious onlookers; http://chicagocrimescenes.blogspot.com/2009/04/lookout-nest-for-st-valentines-day.html)

  
Museum visitors will be able to learn about this event and many others related to gangsters and law enforcement in the “Gangsters and G-Men” Time Capsule exhibit space, which will feature artifacts such as Al Capone’s bullet-resistant vest and other items belonging to the federal agents who tracked down mobsters of the era.

30th Anniversary of the Air Florida Flight 90 Crash

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the devastating Air Florida Flight 90 plane crash into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, DC, that killed 78 individuals, including four motorists on the bridge.

The footage above from The Washington Post reflects on the crash and shows footage from the dramatic rescue from the icy waters under the bridge. The helicopter seen in the video, Eagle 1, manned by pilot Donald W. Usher, and paramedic Melvin E. Windsor, was crucial to the rescuing the five survivors of the initial crash.

The National Law Enforcement Museum is currently in talks with the National Park Service and United States Park Police to include Eagle 1 in the National Law Enforcement Museum. Eagle 1 would hang prominently near the Museum’s entry staircase, over the To Protect & Serve exhibit, near the entrance of the Hall of Remembrance.

While this crash captured Washington’s attention, there are many law enforcement agencies around the country with helicopter units that could share their own stories of harrowing rescues. The Museum salutes all those whose law enforcement service takes them to the skies under dangerous life and death circumstances and welcomes artifacts from other agencies related to their helicopter, search and rescue or disaster response units.

Follow the Museum's progress at www.LawEnforcementMuseum.org.

More information about the Air Florida plan crash and anniversary is available at:http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/30-years-after-air-florida-crash-skies-safer-than-ever/2012/01/05/gIQAW0GwtP_story.html
http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/184389/158/Air-Florida-Flight-90-Crash-30th-Anniversary
http://www.nps.gov/uspp/avipag.htm

Artifact Detective: Rite-Line Paper Holder

Please help us uncover some of the stories behind our objects. Leave a comment with anything you may know about the featured item. We welcome all information, and we’d appreciate sources and citations when possible. Thanks!

What we know:

This item belonged to Rita Trombly Manning when she worked for the FBI from the 1940s to 1970s.

We know Ms. Trombly worked as a stenographer, someone who takes notes in shorthand, in various departments, including the Records and Communications Division and the Crime Records Division.

A note included with the object says, “Device allows you to insert an already typed paper and add another line to it.”

Office supply: Rite-Line Copy Holder. 2011.12.6 Collection of the National Law Enforcement Museum, Washington, D.C.

What we want to know:

What is the primary purpose of this device?

How does this object work with a piece of paper?

What year was this item made and in what years was it used?

Was this an everyday office supply?

Was this a common office supply for law enforcement offices?

If you have any information about this object or own an object similar to this, leave us a comment!