True Crime

This strong collecting area of Special Collections and Archives documents the history of crime with a primary emphasis on the United States, England, France, and Germany from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Students and researchers can consult both primary and secondary sources about historical crimes as well as literary and fictional works based on those events. The collections include a very interesting focus on particular criminal cases that have had notable impacts on art, literature, social attitudes, and popular culture—providing the researcher with a wealth of material on the cases and their cultural effects. At the core of this collection is the extensive personal library of Albert and Helen Borowitz, which they built throughout their lifelong study of the impact of crime on cultural history.