Fredericka Mandelbaum

Fredericka Mandelbaum was a German-born New York crime boss who fenced stolen goods and supported networks of thieves during the nineteenth century.

Connect

Fencing (crime): Fencing is the sale or exchange of goods obtained through theft. Mandelbaum’s operation converted stolen property into cash and connected thieves with buyers.
Kingdom of Prussia: The Kingdom of Prussia was a central European state that existed from 1701 to 1918. Mandelbaum was born in Prussia before emigrating to the United States.
George W. Walling: George W. Walling was a New York City police official and author of an account of urban policing. Walling’s memoir describes the criminal world and police efforts surrounding Mandelbaum.
Mandelbaum gang: The Mandelbaum gang was a network of New York thieves and associates linked to Fredericka Mandelbaum. It was the group of criminals whose goods and activities her enterprise supported.
Women in organized crime: Women in organized crime are women who direct, facilitate, or participate in sustained criminal enterprises. Mandelbaum’s leadership challenges assumptions that major criminal networks were exclusively male.
Burglary: Burglary is unlawful entry into a building with intent to commit a crime, commonly theft. Burglars supplied much of the merchandise her network handled.
German Americans: German Americans are people in the United States with German ancestry or cultural heritage. Her immigrant background placed her within a large nineteenth-century German-speaking population.
Anthony Comstock: Anthony Comstock was an American anti-vice reformer and United States postal inspector. His prosecution of Mandelbaum’s fence operation helped drive her from New York.
Mandelbaum's 1884 flight: Fredericka Mandelbaum’s 1884 flight was her departure from New York after law-enforcement pressure intensified. Her escape marked the abrupt end of her established New York operation.
Gilded Age: The Gilded Age was a period of rapid industrialization, urban growth, and inequality in the United States, roughly from the 1870s to 1900. Her reputation grew amid the era’s wealth, urban expansion, and anxieties about social disorder.