The Secret Life of Ruggles: "We Never Sleep": The Pinkerton National Detective Agency

Historical context of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency

In his book The Eye That Never Sleeps: A History of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, Frank Morn declared that “By the mid-1850’s, a few businessmen saw the need for greater control over their employees; their solution was to sponsor a private detective system.” Founded by Allan Pinkerton in early 1850’s Chicago, the North-Western Police Agency (soon to be known as the Pinkerton National Detective Agency) would grow to establish itself as that system. Touting the motto “We Never Sleep”, a logo complete with a watchful eye, the Agency began to make a name for itself with the tracking and subsequent arrests of several train robbers. In 1861, Pinkerton claimed the agency had foiled a plot to assassinate then-president Abraham Lincoln after escorting him through Baltimore. Whether there was a real threat is hotly disputed; however, the Agency’s business began to pick up after this occurred. By the 1870’s, the Department of Justice contracted the Agency to assist in “..."the detection and prosecution of those guilty of violating federal law" (Churchill), allocating fifty thousand dollars to act on the behalf of the federal government. At one point the Agency had more standing agents than were in the United States armed forces. Over the course of its history, the Pinkerton name has grown to become most associated with the unsavory conflict between labor unions and the interests of robber barons.

Pinkertons were often called in by companies such as Carnegie Steel as private security, protecting high-value items being transported along dangerous routes and assisting in the conflict against unionized workers. One of the most infamous examples of such a conflict between Pinkerton agents and unionists was the battle that occurred during the Homestead Strike of 1892. Contracted by Carnegie Steel to protect the scabs working at the plant during the strike, three hundred Pinkerton agents arrived at four in the morning at the Homestead Steel Works to fight the strikers (members of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers [AA]). By the end of the clash, nine unionists and seven Pinkerton detectives had been killed. The horrific conflict eventually broke the back of the AA, dealing a large blow to the labor union movement. The Pinkerton name would continue to be a large force in strike-breaking operations until 1937, when Allan Pinkerton’s great-grandson Robert Pinkerton II officially ended these services.

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was incorporated into the Swedish security company Securitas AB in 2003.

Relevance to Against the Day

There are a few references to the Pinkertons throughout Against the Day. Nate Privett, head of White City Investigations, mentions that he can’t pay Randolph St. Cosmo and his Chums “...as well as the Pinkertons might...” (Pynchon 25). By this point in the novel, the year 1893, the Pinkertons are at the height of their power and a strong force to be reckoned with as a tool of robber barons and the elite. Referred to as “The Unsleeping Eye” (51), they serve as a reminder of the constant war being waged between anarchists and capitalists at this time, acting to bring order on the behalf of industry powers. Their reputation as strikebreakers and opponents of unions places them in an interesting position in relation to the novel, bringing to light the issue that the labor movement was really a violent struggle. That assorted companies had to support the creation of an outside security force in order to keep hold of their employees shows that primary clash between income brackets was a real concern. After all, monarchies of old held bannermen and knights to protect their own interests and to ensure the peasants did as they were told. Even in this new democracy, this old system rises back up with the Pinkertons acting as the military arm.

Sources:

Encyclopedia of Chicago entry on the Pinkerton National Detective Agency:

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2813.html

The Trajectory of Political Policing in the United States, 1870 to the Present:

http://web.archive.org/web/20090729182154/http://geocities.com/travbailey/index.html

The Eye That Never Sleeps: A History of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency - Frank Morn

"The Homestead Strike," Edward W. Bemis. The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Jun., 1894), pp. 369–396.

Against the Day. Thomas Pynchon.

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