Pinkertons

Private detective agency

The Pinkertons were a private detective and security agency founded in 1850, notorious for strikebreaking and labor suppression in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The name became synonymous with hired muscle used against workers: The company brought in Pinkertons to break the strike.

Today it refers broadly to private security forces or corporate enforcers, often with sinister connotations.

strikebreaking

union busting

Disrupting worker organizing efforts

scabsDried wound coverings
labor disputeWorker-employer disagreement
HomesteadFlorida city or historic act

strikebreakers · goons · thugs · intimidation · Carnegie · industrial conflict · hired muscle · factory · lockout · violence

historical

nineteenth century

Years 1801-1900

Wild WestAmerica's lawless frontier era
Civil WarCountrymen fighting countrymen
LincolnMidwestern state capital

railroad · outlaws · Jesse James · Butch Cassidy · wanted posters · frontier · lawmen · badges · telegraph · bank robbers

detective

agency

Power to act

private eyeHired investigator, unlicensed
investigationFormal examination of facts
surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects

undercover · sleuth · operative · security firm · secret service · informant · plainclothes · shadowing · stakeout · espionage

corporate

security services

Agencies ensuring safety

asset protectionSecuring owned resources legally
consultingGiving expert advice professionally
risk managementIdentifying and minimizing threats

investigations · corporate espionage · executive protection · loss prevention · threat assessment · background checks · fraud investigation · private security · contractors

Pinkertons

union busting

nineteenth century

agency

security services

Pinkertons

Opposites

Phrases

Categories

Family