The bulk of Special Collection & Archives’ crime history and true crime collection was donated by Albert and Helen Borowitz beginning in 1988. Albert Borowitz (1930-2023) was a lawyer with the Cleveland law firm, Jones Day, and Helen Osterman Borowitz (1929-2012) was a distinguished curator of art education at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Together, they amassed a collection with a central focus on the impact and influence of historical criminal events on literature, the arts, pop culture, and society at large.

Additionally, Albert Borowitz published widely on this topic. Seen here is a just a sample of his published work which includes sixteen books and dozens of articles in the field. Some books delve into a single criminal case while others are thematic, discussing related cases throughout history, such as Musical Mysteries: From Mozart to John Lennon.

Another example of this thematic approach is his timely study of the historical roots of terrorism, published by the Kent State University Press in 2005 in the wake of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks. In Terrorism for Self-Glorification, he assesses the phenomenon of violent crime motivated by a craving for notoriety or self-glorification. He traces this particular brand of terrorism back to 356 BCE and the destruction of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus by an arsonist, Herostratos, and then examines similar crimes, both historical as well as more recent cases. These include the attempted explosion of the Greenwich Observatory in 1894, the Taliban’s destruction of the giant Buddhas in Afghanistan, the assassination of John Lennon, the Unabomber strikes, and the attacks on the World Trade Center buildings.

In his book, Blood & Ink, Borowitz provides the crime history connection and context of many of the important books he collected. With his vast knowledge of both crime history and literature, he recognized previously unnoticed crime-history elements in numerous novels. Blood & Ink is an important reference for understanding the significance of both the Borowitz Collection and his study of the history and cultural impact of crime.