Stealing George Washington

The fascinating, barely known story of the theft of George Washington’s diary and other irreplaceable historical documents from the Library of Congress in the 1890s, which launched an interstate chase by the Secret Service and a sensational trial, and changed the trajectory of America’s nation’s library.

It is 1896, and the Congressional Library in the Capitol is bursting at the seams with books and documents. Ainsworth Spofford, the longtime Librarian of Congress, is tirelessly advocating for a bigger, better building to store the nation’s ever-growing archives. But busy with the construction of a massive new library building and distracted by the library’s disarray, Spofford is oblivious to a crime unfolding right under his nose.

Two young clerks, Lewis Turner and Philip McElhone, have been perpetrating a months-long heist, stockpiling and selling stolen pieces of American history. Then they land on the most treasured item of all: George Washington’s diary, written during the drafting of the American Constitution. The Secret Service is enlisted to track down the irreplaceable documents, now scattered among collectors and private sellers, sending them on an interstate chase that leads to the two thieves and a trial that grips the nation.

In Stealing George Washington bestselling author and award-winning historian Daniel Stone writes a story that is much bigger than a riveting heist. He captures a transitional moment in America’s history and chronicles the legacy of the Library of Congress we know today, an institution that has faithfully endured throughout struggles to protect America’s cultural history.