Thursday, January 16, 2014 - 
archive theft,historical documents,Maryland Historical Society,recovery,sentencing
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archive theft,historical documents,Maryland Historical Society,recovery,sentencing
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Document Theft at the Maryland Historical Society: The Thief that Gives Back?
by Kirsten Hower
Normally
when something is stolen from a cultural institution, the odds of the objects
being returned is minimal, and often nothing is returned. It is nearly unheard of for the objects
to be returned…let alone for additional objects to be brought along in the
return. Oddly enough this is the case with museums in Maryland and New York, and document thieves Barry H.
Landau and Jason James Savedoff.
Over the
course of eight months, Landau and Savedoff stole ten thousand historical
documents from cultural institutions such as the New York Historical Society
and the Maryland Historical Society.
One of the documents stolen is a letter from Benjamin Franklin to John
Paul Jones, a naval fighter in the American Revolution, dated April 1, 1780
which was stolen from the New York Historical Society. The thousands of other historical
documents included letters and other written pieces by Abraham Lincoln and
Franklin Roosevelt.
It was not
until July 2011 that both Landau and Savedoff were caught sneaking documents
into specially tailored coats at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore,
Maryland. Had it not been for the
vigilant observations of one of the Society’s employees, the two men may never
have been caught and the extent of their thefts never uncovered. However, they were caught and
subsequently charged for the thefts resulting in a seven year prison sentence
for Landau and a one year prison sentence for Savedoff, who was released this
past November.
What is
particularly interesting about this case was that once the documents were
returned, additional documents were discovered. The “Baltimore Sun” reported that ten percent of the
returned documents do not have traceable origins and are therefore homeless for
the time being. After temporarily
staying at the National Archives in College Park, the documents were taken to
the Maryland Historical Society in August where they will remain until they are
claimed by their rightful owners.
News source:
Jessica Anderson, The Baltimore Sun, "Theft case leaves additional documents at Maryland Historical Society," December 31, 2013