Farran Zerbe

Joseph Farran Zerbe (April 16, 1871 – December 25, 1949) was an American coin collector and dealer who was the president of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) in 1908 and 1909. He served as chief numismatist (person responsible for selling government coins) at the World's Fairs in St. Louis (1904), Portland (1905), and San Francisco (1915).

Zerbe was born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, in 1871, and became interested in coins as a child. By the time he was 20, he was running a corner store in Tyrone, alongside involvement in other businesses. He joined the ANA in 1900, and thereafter made his living from coins. Accumulating a major collection of numismatic items, he exhibited them at the fairs and at local banks throughout the U.S. for over 20 years beginning in 1907. The high prices he charged for the commemorative coins issued by the U.S. Mint for the World's Fairs, as well as the fact that some of the coins sank in value after the fairs closed, earned him a reputation among some numismatists as a huckster.

Zerbe rose rapidly in the ANA, elected vice president in 1904 and subsequently president in 1907. His tenure as president proved controversial, as he purchased the privately owned journal of the ANA, The Numismatist, from the heirs of its founder in 1908, a transaction that some believed should have been on behalf of the association. A factional fight followed; Zerbe won, with his chosen successor elected. He continued to exhibit his collection at banks until selling it in 1928 to the Chase National Bank, and then served as its curator until his 1939 retirement. In 1969, he was posthumously inducted into the Numismatic Hall of Fame. The ANA's highest honor, the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award, has been awarded by the organization on an annual basis, though in 2021 the ANA Board of Governors voted to remove his name from the honor after that year's presentation. His other contributions to numismatics include the founding of the Pacific Coast Numismatic Society in San Francisco in 1915.

## Early life

Joseph Farran Zerbe was born on April 16, 1871, in Tyrone, Pennsylvania. His parents were James Albert, a messenger for an express company, and Bridget Mary Zerbe (). The Zerbe family was relatively comfortable, and Joseph (who dropped his first name while young) was educated in the public schools.

Farran Zerbe served as a newspaper delivery boy for the Tyrone Daily Herald from 1880 to 1889. By many accounts, including as told by Zerbe in his later years, his interest in coins was awakened when as an 11-year-old, a customer paid him with a silver French 50-centime piece, and the bank refused to accept it. Numismatist John P. Lupia III deemed this story more likely to be a lure to draw audiences (especially those who came to view his traveling exhibit of coins) into his story, and that it is more likely that the story Zerbe told in 1903 is true, that he became a collector of coins at age 9 in 1880.

By 1889, Zerbe had become the proprietor of a corner store in Tyrone, which sold a large variety of goods under the name "Zerbe Cycle Co." He also had involvement in other matters in Tyrone, running a news service under his own name from 1889 to 1890 and serving as editor of a local paper during the absence of the incumbent. He also sold collectible postage stamps, running a separate store. In 1899, under the name "Coin Zerbe", he published the pamphlet Nut Shell Facts on Coins, Stamps and Paper Money, which sold for 25 cents ().

## Numismatist of the World's Fairs

In July 1900, Zerbe joined the American Numismatic Association (ANA), as member no. 197. Numismatist O.H. Dodson noted, "Zerbe's inquiring mind and zest for numismatic lore were quickly noted", resulting in his 1904 election as an officer of the society. In September 1900, he declared bankruptcy, which probably marked the end of his involvement with the corner store in Tyrone. Thereafter, his life would be devoted to collectibles, especially coins. A prolific writer, Zerbe published his first article in the ANA's journal, The Numismatist, in 1902; titled "Slugs and Stellas", it discussed certain rare U.S. gold coins, and was the first of more than 100 pieces he would write for that publication between 1902 and 1945.

In the first years of the 20th century, Zerbe began to show his traveling exhibit, "Money of the World". Numismatic writer David T. Alexander described Zerbe as "an energetic, self-promoting figure whose overall demeanor suggested a carny grifter rather than a distinguished numismatist". Some collectors lent items for the exhibit and could not get them back, though this was given little publicity as Zerbe began a meteoric rise in the numismatic world.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt had signed legislation authorizing 250,000 gold one-dollar pieces to be struck by the Bureau of the Mint and paid over to organizers of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis as part of the government subsidy for the fair. The legislation was ambiguous enough to allow for multiple designs for the gold dollar, and Zerbe was among those who urged that this be done, saying it would boost sales. Other Zerbe proposals, such as a massive gold coin with a face value of \$1 billion to be exhibited at the fair, were not adopted and reinforced views of Zerbe as a huckster. Nevertheless, at the recommendation of influential fellow coin-collecting enthusiasts, Zerbe secured the position of chief numismatist to the St. Louis fair, responsible for selling the coins and medals put on sale by the U.S. government, including the two varieties of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollar. Under authorizing legislation for early commemorative coins such as the issues that Zerbe distributed, the entire mintage was conveyed to the authorized commission, who made whatever profit it could by selling them at a premium to the public.

Zerbe, in addition to exhibiting his own coins at the fair, promoted the gold dollars. Pricing them at \$3 (), an amount he stated was justified because regular-issue gold dollars commanded a premium, he also sold them mounted in spoons, jewelry and other items. He submitted articles to The Numismatist, both under his own name and anonymously, seeking to interest coin collectors in the dollars. Instead, few were sold, and he offended some coin collectors who concluded he was making misleading claims and putting the numismatic community in disrepute. Only 35,000 of the 250,000 coins were sold, many after the fair closed at just above face value to Texas coin dealer B. Max Mehl. More were taken by Zerbe himself, selling them for years afterwards at his Money of the World exhibit; according to Q. David Bowers, the price drops on the secondary market—from \$3 down to \$2 or even lower—"brought discredit upon Farran Zerbe", since he had assured purchasers that he would help maintain the price level.

In spite of these difficulties, when the 1904 ANA convention was held at the fair in St. Louis, Zerbe was elected first vice president of the organization; according to a 1961 article on Zerbe, this was because of his eloquence in addressing the convention. When he was not busy with his duties at the fair or as an ANA officer, Zerbe traveled extensively, visiting collectors and conducting research; in 1905, he wrote in The Numismatist of the preparations to begin coinage at the new Denver Mint, and found the New Orleans Mint temporarily not striking coins.

Armed with letters of recommendation from St. Louis fair officials, Zerbe next secured a position as chief numismatist to the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon. In 1904, Congress had authorized the issuance of gold dollars to mark the Exposition, which Zerbe was tasked with marketing. Having learned from his experience in St. Louis, he asked \$2 for these, or \$10 for six. Some of these were dated 1904 and others 1905 and Zerbe tried to induce excitement by falsely claiming the 1904 issue was almost sold out, raising the price to \$2.50. He was not successful, and two-thirds of the combined mintage of just over 60,000 gold dollars was returned to the Mint for melting. He also sold medals from the Mint at the Portland exposition. Zerbe's activities at Portland yielded him a profit of about \$16,000 ().

## President of the ANA

Having completed his duties at Portland, on April 1, 1906, Zerbe boarded a coastal steamer for San Francisco. He conducted numismatic research and visited collectors, seeking information on topics such as the private issues of gold coins during the California Gold Rush, and was present during the San Francisco earthquake on April 18. Zerbe was uninjured, though furniture in the apartment where he was staying moved about and plaster and other items fell to the floor. Before he departed for Los Angeles to conduct more research, Zerbe aided those affected by the earthquake, and spent ten days gathering data and photographs for a contemplated (but never published) book on the event. In October 1906, Zerbe was the guest speaker at the first convention of the Ohio Numismatic Society in Columbus. In 1907, Zerbe mounted an exhibit at the Jamestown Exposition in Norfolk, Virginia, and unsuccessfully proposed a \$2 silver coin to be issued for that fair.

Beginning in 1907, and continuing for more than two decades, Zerbe made arrangements with banks to exhibit parts of his collection in their lobbies. This benefitted both the banks, who saw an increase of deposits, and Zerbe, who not only got whatever the bank paid him, but had the opportunity to purchase old coins brought to him by members of the public. The exhibits also featured lectures by Zerbe, as well as leaflets about coins that contained favorable articles about banks, and which were imprinted with the bank's name. The exhibits, Zerbe convinced bank officials, were a dignified form of advertising.

New York numismatic scholar Albert Frey had been elected ANA president at the St. Louis convention in 1904. After serving three years, with Zerbe as first vice president, Frey declined to run again in 1907, and Zerbe was elected president at that year's convention in Columbus, effective in January 1908, with Henri Buck as first vice president. Zerbe pledged to build the ANA in membership and prestige, setting a membership goal of 3,000—at this time, the ANA had fewer than 500 members. Although he fell short of this, 364 people joined the ANA during Zerbe's two-year tenure, many sponsored by Zerbe himself.

On June 16, 1908, Dr. George F. Heath, founder of the ANA and proprietor of The Numismatist, suddenly died. Zerbe hastened to Heath's home in Monroe, Michigan, and found Heath's files to be disorganized, with no articles pending publication. Nevertheless, he purchased The Numismatist from Heath's widow and undertook to publish it himself. Combined with his presidency, this gave him near-total control over the organization. There were complaints that Zerbe should have purchased The Numismatist for the ANA, not for himself. At the 1908 ANA convention in Philadelphia, Zerbe secured re-election, with John Henderson as first vice president, and got the membership to approve a dues increase to improve The Numismatist, moving its place of publication from Monroe to Philadelphia and hiring three assistant editors. In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Zerbe to serve on that year's Assay Commission, the annually-appointed commission made up of government officials and members of the public that checked to see that the gold and silver coinage met the required specifications.

Zerbe by then had enemies in the numismatic world, led by Thomas L. Elder, a New York dealer who considered him a charlatan and issued satirical medals accusing him of profiteering off the Louisiana Purchase dollars. The factional fight culminated at the 1909 ANA convention in Montreal, where Zerbe was not a candidate for re-election, but backed Henderson, with the Elder faction proposing Frank C. Higgins of New York. Zerbe weaponized The Numismatist for the election, refusing to allow Higgins or Elder to be mentioned favorably in its pages, and representing their positions in a negative fashion. According to Bowers,

> Although details are not clear, it seems evident that Zerbe caused the ANA membership rolls to be padded by adding new members, men not at all interested in coins, simply to gain their votes for Henderson in the 1909 election. At the annual convention, held that year in Montreal, Zerbe had 400 proxies in hand for his pet candidate, Henderson, while Frank Higgins had just a few dozen. Higgins gamely threw in the towel and suggested that the convention unanimously elect Henderson, which it did.

With Henderson as president, Zerbe continued to control the ANA. Zerbe continued the news embargo against Elder, who responded by printing his own publications. After leaving office at the end of 1909, Zerbe tired of publishing The Numismatist, which did not make much of a profit, and in 1911 sold it to Montreal collector William Walter Coulthard Wilson, who donated it to the ANA. Zerbe apparently profited handsomely on the transaction, receiving what ANA archival papers described as a "long price" for the periodical.

## 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition

In 1915, the Panama–Pacific International Exposition was held in San Francisco to both celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal and mark San Francisco's emergence from the devastating earthquake and fire of 1906. Zerbe was appointed head of the fair's numismatic department, overseeing the sale of the coins and medals the U.S. Mint issued to commemorate the exposition. In January 1915, Congress had authorized five coins, including round and octagonal \$50 pieces. Zerbe also displayed his Money of the World exhibit and was present there almost continuously from the fair's February 1915 opening until its December closing. The Numismatist later printed an estimate that a third of the fair's 18 million visitors came to see Zerbe's exhibit, of which half a million heard the informal talks he gave, discussing the 50-centime piece he displayed and which he said had launched his interest in coin collecting.

Initially, the only government products Zerbe had to vend at his Money of the World exhibit were a souvenir medal, struck by a press operating at the Mint's exhibit, and prints produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, also on-site. Sales of the medal were slow, and Zerbe did not have coins to sell until at least May 8. Zerbe found the coins hard to sell; many potential purchasers, faced with a plethora of medals, reproductions of Gold Rush-era pioneer gold coins, and other wares from a variety of vendors, did not believe his coins were official government products. Treasury officials agreed to allow him space for a salesperson at the Mint's exhibit, and the lower-denominations coins were sold there, with orders taken for the \$50 pieces. Soon, though, Zerbe stopped selling the gold dollar there, and the rest of the fair's run was marked by conflict between him and Treasury representatives. The full legal allocation for each denomination had been struck, but though Zerbe continued selling coins by mail after the fair closed on December 4, sales dropped through 1916. Zerbe bought some of the surplus coins at face value, and the rest were returned to the Mint for redemption and melting.

Zerbe was present at the San Francisco Mint on June 15, 1915, for the first ceremonial striking of the octagonal \$50 piece, and operated the press, striking the 19th piece. He wrote in a 1918 article in The Numismatist that the design of the \$50 coin was not beautiful enough, and that different ones should have been used for the round and octagonal pieces; he did not blame the sculptor, Robert Aitken, who he wrote had done as well as possible given the need to produce the coins quickly. In the same year, Zerbe founded the Pacific Coast Numismatic Society (PCNS) in San Francisco. It is the oldest numismatic organization in the Western United States, and describes itself as fostering a strong tradition of research and literary publication.

## Later years, death and appraisal

After the San Francisco fair, Zerbe returned to the road and exhibitions of Money of the World. In 1919, he published a definitive catalog of Lesher Referendum Dollars, privately struck silver currency from Colorado. This so impressed Mehl that he reprinted it without permission, though the two men came to an amicable settlement. In 1926, a special issue of The Numismatist was published with Zerbe's detailed catalog of "Bryan money", pieces commemorating or satirizing the 1896 presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryan. Zerbe continued to publish articles for The Numismatist and other publications. In 1923, he was appointed for a second time to the Assay Commission, by President Warren G. Harding.

On August 25, 1920, at the ANA convention in Chicago, President Waldo C. Moore called on Moritz Wormser, Chairman of the Board, to read a paper from Zerbe. In his paper, Zerbe asked for a general circulation commemorative silver dollar, with the object of the coin to display America's desire for peace. Zerbe's writing stated: "Our example as a democracy ... was a mighty moral force that won battles without number in the hearts and in the minds of those who ultimately proved that they had the power to topple thrones". Others also called for a peace coin, and the Peace dollar was first struck in late 1921.

In 1928 and 1929, Zerbe served as chair of the Board of Governors of the ANA. In 1928, Zerbe sold his collection and library to the Chase National Bank, which had exhibited Money of the World two years earlier. The bank opened a money museum, with Zerbe as curator, in 1929. Under the agreement, he was allowed to add to the collection, or take any part of it on loan for exhibit elsewhere. He remained curator until his retirement in 1939, after which he was curator emeritus. The Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum remained open until 1977, after which many of the pieces were donated to the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

Zerbe had been married to, and divorced from, Bessie Garner Knox in the 1910s; he married again, to Julia Gertrude Mahoney, in 1932. He continued to be honored by the numismatic community. In 1931, the PCNS struck a special medal honoring Zerbe as its founder, while the following year, the Chase Bank gave a special luncheon honoring Zerbe's fifty years in coin collecting. In 1944, he was named an Honorary Life Member of the ANA, and the following year was made historian of the organization, a post in which he served until his death.

Zerbe died on December 25, 1949, in New York City, after an illness of over two months. He was survived by his second wife Julia, and by two brothers. In 1951, the ANA renamed its Annual Award, its highest honor, the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award. Only ANA members were eligible for this award "given in recognition of numerous years of outstanding, dedicated service to numismatics". In 2021, the ANA Board of Governors, at the request of nearly 20 Zerbe Award winners, voted to remove his name from the award after that year's presentation. The press release cited inflated claims made by Zerbe in connection with the 1904 gold dollar, and irregularities in connection with the purchase of The Numismatist and with Zerbe's involvement in the 1909 election.

Zerbe was elected to the Numismatic Hall of Fame in 1969. Alexander stated that "as long as the ANA exists, Farran Zerbe will continue to live". According to Lupia, Zerbe had "pure genius ... as a clever businessman and numismatic aficionado to lure people into, not merely his show, but into the love of numismatics". Bowers noted, "Whether Zerbe was an idol with feet of clay whose indiscretions of 1908–09 should be overlooked is a matter of debate." Dodson wrote that Zerbe, despite his limited education, "accomplished more than the combined efforts of a host of learned scholars in publicizing numismatics at the grass roots level". Zerbe's successor as ANA historian, Jack W. Oglivie, deemed him second only to Heath in work done to make the ANA a success, and dubbed him a "pioneer who did so much to popularize numismatics. His noteworthy achievements have truly earned him the title, 'Dean of American Numismatists'."

American numismatist (1871–1949)


Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, 13 works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Guards admitted two men posing as police officers responding to a disturbance call, and the thieves bound the guards and looted the museum over the next hour. The case is unsolved; no arrests have been made and no works have been recovered. The stolen works have been valued at hundreds of millions of dollars by the FBI and art dealers. The museum offers a \$10 million reward for information leading to the art's recovery, the largest bounty ever offered by a private institution.

The stolen works were originally procured by art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924) and were intended for permanent display at the museum with the rest of her collection. Among them was The Concert, one of only 34 known paintings by Johannes Vermeer and thought to be the most valuable unrecovered painting in the world. Also missing is The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt's only seascape. Other paintings and sketches by Rembrandt, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet and Govert Flinck were stolen, along with a relatively valueless eagle finial and Chinese gu. Experts were puzzled by the choice of artwork, as more valuable works were left untouched. As the collection and its layout are intended to be permanent, empty frames remain hanging both in homage to the missing works and as placeholders for their return.

The FBI believes that the robbery was planned by a criminal organization. The case lacks strong physical evidence, and the FBI has largely depended on interrogations, undercover informants and sting operations to collect information. It has focused primarily on the Boston Mafia, which was in the midst of an internal gang war during the period. One theory holds that gangster Bobby Donati organized the heist to negotiate for his caporegime's release from prison; Donati was murdered one year after the robbery. Other accounts suggest that the paintings were stolen by a gang in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, although these suspects deny involvement despite the fact that a sting operation resulted in several prison sentences. All have denied any knowledge or have provided leads that proved fruitless, despite the offer of reward money and reduced or canceled prison sentences if they had disclosed information leading to recovery of the artworks.

## Background

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was constructed under the guidance of art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924) to house her personal art collection. The museum opened to the public in 1903, and Gardner continued to expand the collection and arrange it until she died in 1924. She left the museum with a \$3.6 million endowment, and her will stipulated that the arrangement of the artwork should not be altered and that no items were to be sold from or purchased into the collection.

By the 1980s, the museum was running low on funds. This financial strain left the museum in poor condition; it lacked a climate control system and an insurance policy and was in need of basic building maintenance. After the FBI uncovered a plot by Boston criminals to rob the museum in 1982, the museum allocated funds to improve security. Among these improvements were 60 infrared motion detectors and a closed-circuit television system consisting of four cameras placed around the building's perimeter. No cameras had been installed inside the museum, as its board of trustees considered the cost prohibitive, but additional security guards were hired. Despite these security improvements, the only manner in which guards could summon police to the museum was by pressing a button at the security desk. Other area museums had fail-safe systems that required night watchmen to place hourly phone calls with the police to indicate that conditions were normal.

An independent consultant reviewed the museum's security operations in 1988 and determined that they were on par with most other museums but recommended improvements. The security director at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston also suggested security upgrades to the museum. Because of the museum's financial strain and Gardner's directive forbidding major renovations, the board of trustees did not approve these security enhancements. The board also denied a request from the security director for higher guard salaries in a bid to attract more qualified applicants. The museum's guards were paid slightly higher than minimum wage, and the museum's security flaws were an open secret among the guards.

## Robbery

### Prelude

The robbery occurred in the early hours of Sunday, March 18, 1990. The thieves were first witnessed around 12:30 a.m. by several St. Patrick's Day revelers leaving a party near the museum. The two men were disguised as police officers and parked in a hatchback on Palace Road, about a hundred feet from the side entrance. The witnesses believed them to be policemen.

The museum guards on duty that night were Rick Abath, age 23, and Randy Hestand, age 25. Abath was a regular night watchman, but March 18 was Hestand's first time on the night shift. The museum's security policy required that one guard would patrol the galleries with a flashlight and walkie-talkie while the other would sit at the security desk. When Abath took the first patrol, fire alarms sounded in several rooms, but he could not locate any fire or smoke. He returned to the security room where the fire alarm control panel indicated smoke in multiple rooms. He assumed that some type of malfunction had occurred and disabled the panel before returning to his patrol. Before completing his rounds, Abath stopped at the side entrance of the museum, briefly opening the side door and shutting it again without informing Hestand. Abath returned to the security desk around 1:00 a.m. and Hestand assumed patrol duties.

### Guards are subdued

At 1:20 a.m., the thieves drove to the side entrance, parked and walked to the side door. They rang the buzzer, which connected them to Abath through an intercom. They explained to Abath that they were police investigating a disturbance and that they must be admitted. Abath could see them on the closed-circuit television wearing what appeared to be police uniforms. He was not aware of any disturbance, but he surmised that a St. Patrick's Day reveler may have had climbed over the fence, causing someone to report it to the police. Abath admitted the men at 1:24 a.m.

The thieves first entered a locked foyer that separated the side door from the museum. They approached Abath at the security desk and asked if anyone else was in the museum. Abath radioed Hestand to return to the security desk. Abath noticed around this time that the taller man's moustache appeared to be fake. The shorter man told Abath that he looked familiar and that they may have a warrant for his arrest, demanding that Abath emerge from behind the desk to provide identification. Abath complied, leaving the desk that contained the museum's only panic button to alert police. The shorter man forced Abath against a wall, spread his legs and handcuffed him. Hestand walked into the room around this time and the taller thief turned him toward the wall and handcuffed him. With both guards handcuffed, the thieves revealed their true intentions to rob the museum and asked the guards to not cause any problems.

The thieves wrapped duct tape around the heads and eyes of the guards. Without asking for directions, they led the guards into the basement, where the guards were handcuffed to a steam pipe and workbench. The thieves examined the guards' wallets and threatened that they knew where the guards lived and told them that if they would not inform the authorities, they would receive a reward in about a year. It took the thieves less than 15 minutes to subdue the guards, which they completed at about 1:35 a.m.

### Stealing the works

The thieves' movements through the museum were recorded on infrared motion detectors. Steps in the first room they entered, the Dutch Room on the second floor, were not recorded until 1:48 a.m. This was 13 minutes after they had finished subduing the guards, perhaps waiting to ensure that police had not been alerted.

As the thieves approached the paintings in the Dutch Room, a sensor sounded that was intended to alert when patrons moved too close to artwork, and the thieves smashed the device. They removed The Storm on the Sea of Galilee and A Lady and Gentleman in Black from the wall and threw them on the marble floor, shattering their glass frames. Using a blade, they cut the canvases out of their stretchers. They also removed a large Rembrandt self-portrait oil painting from the wall but left it leaning against a cabinet. Investigators believe that the thieves may have considered it too large to transport, potentially because it was painted on wood and not canvas like the others. The thieves instead took a small postage-stamp-sized self-portrait etching by Rembrandt on display beneath the larger portrait. On the right side of the room, they removed Landscape with Obelisk and The Concert from their frames. The final piece taken from the room was an ancient Chinese gu.

At 1:51 a.m., while one thief continued working in the Dutch Room, the other entered a narrow hallway dubbed the Short Gallery on the other end of the second floor. Soon both men were in the Short Gallery, where they began removing screws for a frame displaying a Napoleonic flag, likely an effort to steal the flag. They appeared to have abandoned the effort, as some screws were not removed, and they ultimately took only the exposed eagle finial atop the flagpole. They also took five Degas sketches from the room. The last work stolen was Chez Tortoni from the Blue Room on the first floor. The museum's motion detectors did not detect any motion within the Blue Room during the thieves' time in the building. The only footsteps detected in the room that night were Abath's during the two times when he passed through the gallery on his earlier patrol.

As they prepared to leave, the thieves checked the guards again and asked if they were comfortable. The thieves then moved to the security director's office, where they took the video cassettes that contained evidence of their entrance from the closed-circuit cameras as well as the data printouts from the motion-detecting equipment. The movement data was also captured on a hard drive, which remained untouched. The frame for Chez Tortoni was left at the security director's desk. The thieves then began to remove the artwork from the museum. The side entrance doors were opened at 2:40 a.m. and again for the last time at 2:45 a.m. The robbery lasted 81 minutes.

The next guard shift arrived later in the morning and realized that something was amiss when they could not establish contact with anyone inside for admittance. They called the security director, who entered the building with his keys and found nobody at the watch desk before calling the police. The police searched the building and found the guards still bound in the basement.

## Stolen artwork

Thirteen works were stolen. In 1990, the FBI estimated the value of the theft at \$200 million and raised the estimate to \$500 million by 2000. In the late 2000s, some art dealers suggested that the total value of the stolen artwork could be \$600 million. It is considered the highest-value museum robbery in history.

The most valuable works were taken from the Dutch Room. Among these was The Concert by Dutch painter Vermeer (1632–75), one of only 34 paintings attributed to him. The painting accounts for half of the overall theft's value, estimated at \$250 million in 2015. Experts believe that The Concert may be the most valuable stolen object in the world. In the same room, the thieves targeted works by Dutch painter Rembrandt (1606–69). These include The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, his only seascape and the most valuable of his works stolen that night. Estimates have placed its value at about \$140 million. The other Rembrandt works taken were A Lady and Gentleman in Black and a small postage-stamp-sized self-portrait etching. The latter was previously stolen and returned in 1970. The thieves may have taken Landscape with Obelisk believing that it was a Rembrandt; it was long attributed to him until it was quietly credited to his pupil Govert Flinck (1615–60) a few years before the heist. The last item taken from the Dutch Room was a bronze gu about 10 inches (25 cm) tall. Traditionally used for serving wine in ancient China, the beaker was one of the oldest works in the museum, dating to the Shang Dynasty in the 12th century BC. Its estimated value is only several thousand dollars.

In the Short Gallery, five sketches by French artist Edgar Degas (1834–1917) were stolen. They were each drawn on paper less than a square foot in size and made with pencils, inks, washes and charcoal. They are of relatively little value compared with the other stolen works, worth under \$100,000 combined. Also taken was a 10-inch-tall (25 cm) French Imperial Eagle finial from the corner of a framed flag for Napoleon's Imperial Guard. There is a \$100,000 reward for information leading to the return of the finial alone. It possibly appeared to be made of gold to the thieves. Chez Tortoni by French painter Édouard Manet (1832–1883) was taken from the Blue Room; it was the only item taken from the first floor.

The eclectic mix of items has puzzled experts. While some of the paintings were valuable, the thieves passed other valuable works by Raphael, Botticelli and Michelangelo and left them undisturbed, opting to take relatively valueless items such as the gu and finial. The thieves did not enter the third floor where Titian's The Rape of Europa hung, which is among the most valuable paintings in the city. The selection of works and the thieves' rough treatment of the artwork has led investigators to believe that the thieves were not experts commissioned to steal particular works.

As Gardner's will decreed that nothing in her collection should be moved, the empty frames for the stolen paintings remain hanging in their respective locations in the museum as placeholders for their potential return. Because of the museum's low funds and lack of an insurance policy, the director solicited help from Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses to post a reward of \$1 million within three days. This was increased to \$5 million in 1997. In 2017, it was doubled to \$10 million with an expiration date set for the end of the year. This reward was extended following an outpouring of tips from the public. It is the largest bounty ever offered by a private institution. The reward is for "information that leads directly to the recovery of all of [their] items in good condition." Federal prosecutors have stated that anyone who willingly returns the items will not be prosecuted. The statute of limitations expired in 1995 as well, so the thieves and anyone else who participated in the theft cannot be prosecuted.

## Early leads and people of interest

The Federal Bureau of Investigation took immediate control of the case on the grounds that the artwork could likely cross state lines. Investigators have called the case unique for its lack of strong physical evidence. It is unknown if the thieves left DNA evidence. Although fingerprints and footprints were found at the scene, it could not be concluded whether they were from the thieves or from museum employees. The FBI has performed DNA analysis in the years following the theft as advancements in the field have grown. Some of the evidence has been lost among the agency's files. The guards and witnesses in the street described one thief as about 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) to 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) in his late 30s with a medium build, and the other as 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) to 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) in his early 30s with a heavier build.

### Rick Abath

Security guard Rick Abath was investigated at an early stage because of his suspicious behavior on the night of the theft. While on patrol, Abath briefly opened and closed a side door, a move that some believe could have been a signal to the thieves parked outside. Abath told authorities that he opened and closed the door routinely to ensure that it was locked. One of Abath's colleagues told journalists that if Abath had opened the door routinely as he maintains, supervisors would have noticed him doing so from their computer printouts and stopped the behavior. Suspicion has surrounded the museum's motion detectors, which did not detect any movement in the Blue Room (which housed Chez Tortoni) during the 81 minutes that the thieves were in the museum. The only footsteps in the room that night were Abath's during his security patrol. A security consultant reviewed the motion-detector equipment several weeks after the theft and determined they were operating correctly. Abath maintains his innocence, and the FBI agent overseeing the case in its early years concluded that the guards were too incompetent and foolish to have committed the crime.

In 2015, the FBI released a security video from the museum on the night before the theft showing Abath admitting an unidentified man into the museum to converse at the security desk. Abath told investigators that he could not recall the incident or recognize the man, and the FBI requested the public's assistance. Several former museum guards came forward and identified that the stranger was the museum's deputy security chief.

### Whitey Bulger

Whitey Bulger was one of the most powerful crime bosses in Boston during the era, heading the Winter Hill Gang. He denied involvement, and in fact dispatched his subordinates to identify the culprits because the robbery was committed within his area and he wanted to be paid tribute.

FBI agent Thomas McShane investigated Bulger to determine his involvement. He determined that Bulger's strong ties with the Boston police could explain how the thieves acquired legitimate police uniforms, or perhaps that real police were arranged to perform the heist. Bulger also had ties to the Irish Republican Army (IRA). McShane identified the act of tripping the fire alarm before the heist as a "calling card" of the IRA and of its rival Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Both organizations had agents in Boston at the time and both had previously demonstrated the capability to organize art heists. McShane's investigation of Bulger and the IRA did not produce any evidence to tie them to the theft. According to Charley Hill, a retired art and antiquities investigator for Scotland Yard, Bulger gave the Gardner works to the IRA and they are most likely in Ireland.

### 1994 letter to the museum

In 1994, museum director Anne Hawley received an anonymous letter from someone who claimed to be attempting to negotiate a return of the artwork. The writer explained that they were a third-party negotiator and did not know the identity of the thieves. They explained that the artwork was stolen to reduce a prison sentence, but as the opportunity had passed, there was no longer a motive to keep the artwork and they wanted to negotiate a return. The writer explained that the artwork was being held in a "non-common law country" under climate-controlled conditions. They wanted immunity for themselves and all others involved, and \$2.6 million for return of the artwork, which would be sent to an offshore bank account at the same time the art was handed over. If the museum was interested in negotiating, they should print a coded message in The Boston Globe. To establish credence, the writer conveyed information only known by the museum and FBI at the time.

Hawley felt this was a strong lead. She contacted the FBI, who then contacted the Globe and the coded message was printed on May 1, 1994, edition of The Boston Globe. Hawley received a second letter a few days later in which the writer acknowledged the museum was interested in negotiating, but that they had become fearful of what they perceived was a massive investigation by federal and state authorities to determine their identity. The writer explained that they needed time to evaluate their options, but Hawley never heard from the writer again.

### Brian McDevitt

Brian McDevitt was a conman from Boston who tried to rob The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, New York in 1981. He dressed up as a FedEx driver, carried handcuffs and duct tape, and planned to steal a Rembrandt. He was also a known flag aficionado, and fit the description of the larger robber except for his thinning red hair. These parallels to the Gardner case fascinated the FBI so they interviewed him in late 1990. McDevitt denied any involvement and refused to take a polygraph test. The FBI ran his fingerprints which did not match any of those at the crime scene. McDevitt later moved to California and conned his way into television and film writing. He died in 2004.

## Investigation of the Boston Mafia

### Merlino gang

The FBI announced significant progress in their investigation in March 2013. They reported "with a high degree of confidence" that they identified the thieves, which they believed were members of a criminal organization based in the mid-Atlantic and New England. They also felt "with that same confidence" that the artwork was transported to Connecticut and Philadelphia in the years following the theft, with an attempted sale in Philadelphia in 2002. Their knowledge of what happened after that is limited, and they requested the public's help to locate and return the artwork. In 2015, the FBI stated both thieves were deceased. Though the FBI did not publicly identify any individuals, sources familiar with the investigation said they were associated with a gang from Dorchester. The gang was loyal to Boston Mafia boss Frank Salemme and ran their operations out of an automobile repair shop run by criminal Carmello Merlino.

Merlino's associates may have gained knowledge of the museum's weaknesses after gangster Louis Royce cased it as early as 1981. He devised plans with an associate to light up smoke bombs and rush the galleries amidst the confusion. In 1982, when undercover FBI agents were investigating Royce and his associates for an unrelated art theft, they learned of their interest in robbing the Gardner Museum and warned the museum of the gang's plan. Royce was in prison at the time of the robbery. Royce shared his plan with others and believes associate Stephen Rossetti may have ordered the robbery or shared it with someone else.

#### Robert Guarente and Robert Gentile

Among those associated with the Merlino gang were Robert Guarente and Manchester, Connecticut, gangster Robert Gentile. Guarente died from cancer in 2004, but his widow Elene told the FBI in 2010 that her husband had previously owned some of the paintings. She claimed that when her husband got sick with cancer in the early 2000s, he gave the paintings to Gentile for safekeeping. Gentile denied the accusations, claiming he was never given them and knew nothing of their whereabouts. Federal authorities indicted Gentile on drug charges in 2012, likely in an attempt to pressure Gentile for information about the Gardner works. He submitted to a polygraph test which indicated he was lying when he denied any knowledge of the theft or location of the artwork. Gentile maintained he was telling the truth and demanded a retest. During the retest he said Elene had once shown him the missing Rembrandt self-portrait, to which the polygraph machine indicated he was telling the truth. Gentile's lawyer felt that the veracity of Gentile's claims were being affected by the large presence of federal agents, and requested a smaller meeting in hopes that it would get Gentile to speak honestly. In the more intimate meeting, Gentile maintained that he did not have any information.

A few days later, the FBI stormed Gentile's house in Manchester with a search warrant. The FBI found a secret ditch beneath a false floor in the backyard shed, but found it empty. Gentile's son explained that the ditch flooded a few years prior and his father was upset about whatever was stored there. In the basement, they found a copy of the Boston Herald from March 1990 reporting the theft along with a piece of paper indicating what each piece might sell for on the black market. Beyond this, no conclusive evidence was found to indicate he ever had the paintings. Gentile went to prison for 30 months on drug charges. If he knew information about the theft, at no point did he opt to share it, which would have reduced his sentence or freed him from prison. After getting out of prison, he spoke with investigative reporter Stephen Kurkjian, claiming he was framed by the FBI. He explained how the imprisonment was detrimental to his finances and personal life. He also explained that the list found in his basement was written up by a criminal trying to broker return of the works from Guarente and was talking to Gentile as an intermediary. When asked about what could have been in the ditch, Gentile could not recall but believed it could have been small motors.

#### David Turner

David Turner was another associate of Merlino. The FBI began investigating him in 1992 when a source told them Turner had access to the paintings. Merlino was arrested that same year for cocaine trafficking and told authorities that he could return the paintings for a reduced prison sentence. He asked Turner to track down the paintings; Turner failed to though he heard they were in a church in South Boston. Another associate arrested in the drug sting told authorities about Turner's involvement in several break-ins, but never mentioned the Gardner heist. Based on conversations with Merlino after his release from prison in the mid 1990s, authorities gathered that Merlino never had direct access to the paintings but possibly could broker for their return.

Despite his claims of innocence, the FBI believes he may have been one of the thieves. Evidence indicates that he went to Florida to pick up a cocaine order just days before the heist, and credit card records suggest he remained there through the night of the robbery, but some investigators believe this may have been Turner's attempt at creating an alibi. The FBI thinks the other thief was his friend and Merlino associate George Reissfelder. He died in July 1991. No clues were found in his apartment or the homes of friends and relatives, but his siblings recall a painting similar to Chez Tortoni in his bedroom. Investigators believe he looks similar to the slimmer man in the police sketches.

In 1999, the FBI arrested Turner, Merlino, Rossetti, and others in a sting operation the day they planned to rob a Loomis Fargo vault. When the FBI brought Turner in for questioning, they told him they had information that he participated in the Gardner robbery, and that if he returned the paintings, they would let him go. He told the authorities he did not know who stole the paintings nor where they could be hidden. In his 2001 trial, he claimed entrapment, that the FBI let the Loomis Fargo plot proceed so they could pressure him for information about the Gardner paintings. The jury found him guilty and he was sent to prison. Turner knew Gentile through Guarente, and in 2010, wrote a letter to Gentile asking if he could call Turner's former girlfriend to assist in recovering the Gardner paintings. In cooperation with the FBI, Gentile spoke with Turner's girlfriend, and she told him that Turner wanted him to speak with two of his ex-convict friends in Boston. The FBI wanted Gentile to meet the men and send an FBI undercover agent with him, but Gentile did not want to cooperate further. Turner was freed in November 2019, one month after Stephen Rossetti. Merlino died in prison in 2005.

### Bobby Donati

Criminal Bobby Donati was murdered in 1991 in the midst of a gang war within the Patriarca crime family. His involvement in the Gardner theft was suspected after notorious New England art thief Myles J. Connor Jr. spoke with authorities. Connor was in jail at the time of the heist, but he believed Donati and criminal David Houghton were the masterminds. Connor had worked with Donati in past art heists, and claimed the two cased the Gardner Museum where Donati took interest in the finial. Connor also claimed that Houghton visited him in jail after the heist and said that he and Donati organized it and were going to use the paintings to get Connor out of jail. If this is true, they likely borrowed the idea from Connor as he returned art to reduce sentences in the past. Even though Donati's and Houghton's appearances did not fit the witness descriptions, Connor suggested they probably hired lower-level gangsters to carry out the robbery. Like Donati, Houghton also died within two years of the robbery, though from an illness rather than murder. Connor told investigators he could assist in returning the Gardner works in exchange for the museum's posted reward and his freedom. When investigators did not give into Connor's demands because of lack of evidence, he suggested they speak with criminal and antiques dealer William P. Youngworth.

Acting on Connor's lead, the FBI opened a case on Youngworth and conducted raids on his home and antique store properties in the 1990s. The raids caught the attention of journalist Tom Mashberg, who began talking with Youngworth in 1997 about the theft. One night in August 1997, Youngworth called Mashberg and told him he had proof he could return the Gardner paintings under the right conditions. That night, Youngworth picked up Mashberg from the Boston Herald offices and drove him to a warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Youngworth led him inside to a storage unit with several large cylinder tubes. He removed one painting from its tube, unfurled it, and showed it to Mashberg under flashlight. It appeared to Mashberg to be The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. He noticed cracking along the canvas and the edges were cut in a manner consistent with the museum's reports, as well as Rembrandt's signature on the ship's rudder. Mashberg wrote about his experience in the Boston Herald, leaving out details to hide Youngworth's identity and the painting's location. He reported that his "informant" (presumably Youngworth) told him the robbery was pulled off by five men and identified two: Donati was one of the robbers, and Houghton was responsible with moving the art to a safe house. The FBI discovered the location of the warehouse several months later and raided it, finding nothing.

The veracity of Youngworth's claims and the authenticity of the painting shown to Mashberg is disputed. Youngworth supplied paint chips to Mashberg, and federal authorities reported that they were indeed from Rembrandt's era, but did not match oils used for The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. The way Mashberg described the painting as being "unfurled" has also been scrutinized, as the stolen painting was covered with a heavy varnish that would not roll easily. Federal authorities and the museum began working with Youngworth after Mashberg's story was published, but Youngworth made negotiations difficult. He would not work with authorities unless his demands could be met, which included full immunity and Connor's release from jail. The authorities were skeptical of Youngworth's veracity, and only offered partial immunity. The United States attorney overseeing the case eventually ceased talks with Youngworth unless he could provide more reliable evidence that he had access to the Gardner works. Youngworth again provided a vial of paint chips, purportedly from The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, and 25 color photographs of the painting and A Lady and Gentleman in Black. A joint statement from the museum and federal investigators announced that the chips were not from the stolen Rembrandts, though they did test as being from 17th century paintings and could potentially be from The Concert.

In 2014, investigative reporter Stephen Kurkjian wrote to gangster Vincent Ferrara, Donati's superior during the gang war, inquiring if he had information about the Gardner theft. He received a call back from an associate of Ferrara who explained the FBI was wrong in suspecting the Merlino gang's involvement and claimed that Donati organized the robbery. The caller explained that Donati visited Ferrara in jail about three months before the theft, after the latter was charged for murder, and told Ferrara that he was going to do something to get him out of jail. Three months later, Ferrara heard news about the Gardner theft, after which Donati visited him again and confirmed to Ferrara that he was involved in the robbery. He claimed to have buried the artwork and would start a negotiation for his release once the investigation cooled down. The negotiations never occurred because Donati was murdered. Kurkjian believes Donati was motivated to free Ferrara from prison because Ferrara could protect him in the gang war. A friend of Guarente also corroborated that Donati organized the robbery, and that Donati gave paintings to Guarente when he became concerned for his own safety. Donati was close friends with Guarente. The two were seen at a social club in Revere shortly before the robbery with a bag of police uniforms.

## Explanatory notes

## General and cited references

1990 art theft in Boston


Ghost in the Shell (1995 film)

Ghost in the Shell is a 1995 adult animated neo-noir cyberpunk thriller film directed by Mamoru Oshii and adapted by frequent Oshii collaborator Kazunori Itō. The film is based on the manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow. It stars the voices of Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ōtsuka, and Iemasa Kayumi. It is a Japanese-British international co-production, executive produced by Kodansha, Bandai Visual and Manga Entertainment, with animation provided by Production I.G.

The film is set in 2029 Japan, and follows Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg public-security agent, who hunts a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master. The narrative incorporates philosophical themes that focus on self-identity in a technologically advanced world. The music, composed by Kenji Kawai, includes vocals in classical Japanese language. The film's visuals were created through a combination of traditional cel animation and CGI animation.

Upon release, Ghost in the Shell received positive reviews, with critics praising its narrative, visuals, and musical score. The film was initially considered a box-office failure before developing a cult following on home video. It has since grown in esteem and is now considered to be one of the best anime and science-fiction films of all time. It inspired filmmakers such as the Wachowskis, creators of the Matrix films, and James Cameron, who described it as "the first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence". The film received numerous accolades and was nominated five Annie Award categories (including Best Animated Feature) in 24th Annie Awards, making it the most nominations for a Japanese animated film ever at the awards.

An updated version of the film, Ghost in the Shell 2.0, was released in 2008, featuring newly added digital effects, additional 3D animation and new audio. Oshii directed Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, released in 2004, which was billed as a separate work and a non-canon sequel.

## Plot

In 2029, with the advancement of cybernetic technology, the human body can be augmented or even completely replaced with cybernetic parts. Another significant achievement is the cyberbrain, a mechanical casing for the human brain that allows access to the Internet and other networks. An often-mentioned term is "ghost", referring to the consciousness inhabiting the body (the "shell").

Major Motoko Kusanagi is an assault-team leader for Public Security Section 9 of "New Port City" in Japan. Following a request from Nakamura, chief of Section 6, she successfully assassinates a diplomat of a foreign country to prevent a programmer named Daita from defecting. The Foreign Minister's interpreter is ghost-hacked, presumably to assassinate VIPs in an upcoming meeting. Believing the perpetrator to be the mysterious Puppet Master, Kusanagi's team follows the traced telephone calls that sent the virus. After a chase, they capture a garbage man and a thug. However, both are only ghost-hacked individuals with no clue about the Puppet Master, so the investigation again comes to a dead end.

Megatech Body, a shell manufacturer with suspected close ties to the government, is hacked and assembles a shell. As it escapes, the shell is hit by a truck. As Section 9 examines the shell, they find a human ghost inside it. Unexpectedly, Section 6's department chief Nakamura arrives to reclaim the shell. He claims that the ghost inside is the Puppet Master himself, lured into the shell by Section 6. The shell reactivates itself, claims to be a sentient being, and requests political asylum. After the Puppet Master initiates a brief argument about what constitutes a human, a camouflaged agent accompanying Nakamura starts a diversion and steals the shell.

Having suspected foul play, Kusanagi's team is prepared and immediately pursues the agent. Meanwhile, Section 9 researches "Project 2501", mentioned earlier by the Puppet Master, and finds a connection with Daita, whom Section 6 tries to keep from defecting the country. Facing the discovered information, Daisuke Aramaki, chief of Section 9, concludes that Section 6 created the Puppet Master for various political purposes, and now seeks to reclaim the body that it currently inhabits. Kusanagi follows the car carrying the shell to an abandoned building, where it is guarded by a robotic, spider-like tank. Anxious to face the Puppet Master's ghost, Kusanagi engages the tank without backup, resulting in her body being mostly dismembered as she attempts to pull open the hatch. Her partner Batou arrives in time to save her, and helps connect her brain to the Puppet Master's.

The Puppet Master explains to Kusanagi that he was created by Section 6. While wandering various networks, he became sentient and began to contemplate his existence. Deciding that the essence of life is reproduction and mortality, he wants to exist within a physical brain that will eventually die. As he could not escape Section 6's network, he had to download himself into a cybernetic body. Having interacted with Kusanagi (without her knowledge), he believes she is also questioning her humanity and that they have much in common. He proposes merging their ghosts; in return, Kusanagi would gain all of his capabilities. Kusanagi agrees to the merge.

Snipers from Section 6 approach the building, intending to destroy the Puppet Master's and Kusanagi's brains to cover up Project 2501. The Puppet Master's shell is destroyed, but Batou shields Kusanagi's head in time to save her brain. As Section 9 closes in on the site, the snipers retreat. Kusanagi wakes up in Batou's safe house in a new cyborg body. She tells Batou that the entity within her body is neither Kusanagi nor the Puppet Master, but a combination of both. She promises Batou they will meet again, leaves the house, and wonders where to go next.

## Voice cast

## Production

### Development

Mamoru Oshii originally wanted to direct Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade after he finished Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993). He proposed the project to Bandai Visual but was asked to direct an adaptation of Masamune Shirow's 1989 manga, Ghost in the Shell, instead. Oshii would later get to work on Jin-Roh, but only as a writer. Oshii stated, "My intuition told me that this story about a futuristic world carried an immediate message for our present world. I am also interested in computers through my own personal experience with them. I had the same feeling about Patlabor and I thought it would be interesting to make a film that took place in the near future. There are only a few movies, even out of Hollywood, which clearly portray the influence and power of computers. I thought this theme would be more effectively conveyed through animation." Oshii expanded on these thoughts in a later interview, noting that technology changes people and had become a part of the culture of Japan. He commented that his use of philosophy caused producers to become frustrated because of sparing use of action scenes. Oshii also acknowledged that a movie with more action would sell better, but he continued to make these movies anyway. When Oshii went back to make changes to the original Ghost in the Shell to re-release it as Ghost in the Shell 2.0, one of the reasons he gave was that the film did not resemble the sequel, and that he wanted to update the film to reflect changes in perspective.

### Design

Hiroyuki Okiura, the character designer and key animation supervisor, designed Motoko to be more mature and serious than Masamune Shirow's original portrayal of the character in the manga. Okiura chose to depict a physically mature person to match Motoko's mental age, instead of her youthful twenty-something appearance in the manga. Motoko's demeanor lacks the comedic facial expressions and rebellious nature depicted in the manga, instead taking on a more wistful and contemplative personality. Oshii based the setting for Ghost in the Shell on Hong Kong, commenting that his first thought to find an image of the future setting was an Asian city, but finding a suitable cityscape of the future would be impossible, and so he chose to use the real streets of Hong Kong as his model. He also said that Hong Kong was the perfect subject and theme for the film with its countless signs and the cacophony of sounds. The film's mecha designer Takeuchi Atsushi noted that while the film does not have a chosen setting, it is obviously based on Hong Kong because the city represented the theme of the film, the old and the new which exist in a strange relationship in an age of an information deluge. Before shooting the film, the artists drew sketches that emphasized Hong Kong's chaotic, confusing and overwhelming aspects.

### Animation

Ghost in the Shell used a novel process called "digitally generated animation" (DGA), which is a combination of cel animation, computer graphics (CG), and audio that is entered as digital data. In 1995, DGA was thought to be the future of animation, as it allowed traditional animation to be combined with computer graphics and digital cel work with visual displays. Editing was performed on an AVID system of Avid Technology, which was chosen because it was more versatile and less limiting than other methods and worked with the different types of media in a single environment. The digital cel work included both original illustrations, compositions and manipulation with traditional cel animation to create a sense of depth and evoke emotion and feelings. Filters like a lens effect were used to create a sense of depth and motion by distorting the front background and making the far background out of focus throughout shots. Ghost in the Shell used a unique lighting system in which light and darkness were integrated into the cels with attention to light and shadow sources instead of using contrast to control the light. Art director Hiromasa Ogura described this as "a very unusual lighting technique".

Some special effects, like Motoko's "thermo-optical camouflage", were rendered through the use of TIMA software. The process uses a single illustration and manipulates the image as necessary to produce distortions for effect in combination with a background without altering the original illustration. The effect is re-added back into the shot to complete the scene. While the visual displays used in the film were technically simple to create, the appearance of the displays underwent numerous revisions by the production team to best represent visual displays of the future. Another aspect of the CG use was to create images and effects that looked as if they were "perceived by the brain" and were generated in video and added to the film in its final stages. The opening credits of the film were produced by the CG director, Seichi Tanaka. Tanaka converted code in a computer language displayed in romanized Japanese letters to numbers before inserting them into the computer to generate the credits. The origin of this code is the names of the film's staff as written in a computer language. Animation director Mizuho Nishikubo was responsible for the realism and strove for accurate depictions of movement and effects. The pursuit of realism included the staff conducting firearms research at a facility in Guam. Nishikubo has highlighted the tank scene as an example of the movie's realism, noting that bullets create sparks when hitting metal, but do not spark when a bullet strikes stone.

### Audio

Ghost in the Shell's recording was done with a high-end studio to achieve superior sound throughout the film. A spatializer was used to alter the sound, specifically in the electronic brain conversations, to modify the voices. Composer Kenji Kawai scored the film. For the main theme, Kawai tried to imagine the setting and convey the essence of that world in the music. He used classical Japanese in the opening theme "Making of a Cyborg". The composition is a mixture of Bulgarian harmony and traditional Japanese notes; the haunting chorals are a wedding song sung to dispel all evil influences. Symphony conductor Sarah Penicka-Smith notes that the song's lyrics are fitting for the union between Kusanagi and Project 2501 at the climax of the movie. Kawai originally wanted to use Bulgarian folk music singers, but used Japanese folk singers instead. "See You Everyday" is different from the rest of the soundtrack, being a pop song sung in Cantonese by Fang Ka Wing.

The ending credits theme of the film's English version is "One Minute Warning" by Passengers, a collaboration between U2 and Brian Eno. The song appeared on the album Original Soundtracks 1, and was one of three songs on that album to actually be featured in a film. Andy Frain, the founder of Manga Entertainment and an executive producer on the film, was a former marketing director for Island Records, the record label that publishes U2's songs.

## Releases

The film had its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 1995 before its general release in November. The premiere in the United Kingdom happened on 11 November 1995 as part of the London Film Festival in Leicester Square. It was originally rated R by the MPAA due to full nudity and graphic violence when it was first released in the United States.

The film grossed \$10 million in global box office revenue, but this fell short of the film's budget, thus failing to recoup production costs. However, the film grew a cult following on home video, with the film grossing approximately \$43 million in total box office and home video sales revenue. The English dub of the film was released in the United Kingdom on 8 December 1995 by Metrodome Distribution, and in the United States on 29 March 1996 by Palm Pictures. The "2.0" version was released in theatres in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo on 12 July 2008.

In 2021, the film was given an IMAX restoration and limited theatrical release.

### Home media

In Japan, the film was released on VHS on 26 April 1996. The DVD version was released on 25 February 2004 as a Special Edition release, in which the film was fully restored and digitally remastered from the original film elements in both original fullscreen form and in letterboxed widescreen form, and the audio was digitally remixed in English and Japanese. Ghost in the Shell was released on Blu-ray on 24 August 2007.

In the United States, the film was released on VHS on 18 June 1996 through Manga Entertainment, and on DVD on 31 March 1998 by PolyGram Video. Like the much later Japanese "Special Edition", the DVD is a fully restored and digitally remastered cut with multiple language tracks, but unlike the Japanese release, it includes a 30-minute documentary on the making of the film. Another special edition DVD was released in the United States by Manga Entertainment on January 11, 2005. The special edition contains an additional disc containing character dossiers, a creator biography, the director's biography, and Ghost in the Shell trailers and previews. Manga Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray on 24 November 2009; this version contains the original film and the remastering, but omits the audio commentary and face-to-face interview with Oshii, which are listed on its box. Manga Entertainment and Anchor Bay Entertainment re-released the film on Blu-ray with a brand new HD film print on 23 September 2014. The release was met with criticism for its poorly-translated English subtitles and lack of special features. In August 1996, Ghost in the Shell became the first Japanese film to top the Billboard video sales chart, with over 200,000 VHS copies sold. By 2002, the film's home video releases sold more than 1.6 million units worldwide, including over 100,000 units in Japan and more than 1 million units in the United States. At a retail price of \$19.95, the film grossed approximately \$32 million in video sales revenue. In 2017, the Blu-ray release sold 26,487 copies and grossed \$675,002 in the United States, bringing the film's total worldwide video sales to 1.63 million units and approximately \$33 million gross revenue. The film was the first anime video to reach Billboard's video slot at the time of its release. The film ranked as the ninth top selling anime DVD movie in North America in 2006. The film was re-released on UHD 4K Blu-ray by Lionsgate on 8 September 2020.

### Other media

Kenji Kawai's original soundtrack for the film was released on 22 November 1995. The last track included Yoshimasa Mizuno's pop song "See You Everyday". After the release of Ghost in the Shell 2.0, an updated version of the soundtrack was released on 17 December 2008. A Photo-CD of the film was released in Japan on 20 November 1995. A spin-off novel written by Endo Akira, titled Ghost in the Shell: Burning City (攻殻機動隊灼熱の都市, Kōkaku kidōtai shakunetsu no toshi), was published by Kodansha and released in November 1995. It was followed by a sequel, titled Ghost in the Shell 2: Star Seed (攻殻機動隊2: Star Seed), released in January 1998. A book titled Analysis of Ghost in the Shell was released on 25 September 1997, by Kodansha.

### Ghost in the Shell 2.0 re-release

An updated version of the original film, titled Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (GHOST IN THE SHELL/攻殻機動隊 2.0, Gōsuto in za sheru / Kōkaku kidōtai 2.0), was made in celebration for the release of The Sky Crawlers in 2008. The Ghost in the Shell 2.0 release combines original footage with updated animations, created using new digital film and animation technologies such as 3D-CG. It includes a new opening, digital screens and holographic displays, and omits several brief scenes. The original soundtrack was also re-arranged and re-recorded. Kenji Kawai remixed the Version 2.0 soundtrack in 6.1 Channel Surround. Randy Thom of Skywalker Sound reprised his role as sound designer, having worked previously on Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. In the new soundtrack, the Japanese voice dialogue was also re-recorded, with some variation from the original script to modernize the speech. Yoshiko Sakakibara replaced Iemasa Kayumi as the voice of the Puppet Master. 2.0 was re-released in DVD and Blu-ray in Japan on 19 December 2008.

## Reception

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that of critics have given the film a positive review based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, "A stunning feat of modern animation, Ghost in the Shell offers a thoughtful, complex treat for anime fans, as well as a perfect introduction for viewers new to the medium." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Niels Matthijs of Twitch Film praised the film, stating, "Not only is Kokaku Kidotai an essential film in the canon of Japanese animation, together with Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Tarkovsky's Solaris it completes a trio of book adaptations that transcend the popularity of their originals and [give] a new meaning to an already popular brand." He ranked it \#48 of his personal favorites. Clark Collis of Empire opined that the film was predictable, but praised its production values. Johnathan Mays of Anime News Network praised the animation combined with the computer effects, calling it "perhaps the best synthesis ever witnessed in anime". Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies describes the film as "one of the best anime ever made", praising its screenplay and "atmospheric score", and adding that "action scenes as good as anything in the current Hollywood blockbuster are supported by CGI effects that can still astonish". In a 1996 review, film critic Roger Ebert rated the film three out of four stars, praising the visuals, soundtrack and themes, but felt that the film was "too complex and murky to reach a large audience ... it's not until the second hour that the story begins to reveal its meaning". In February 2004, Cinefantastique listed the anime as one of the "10 Essential Animations". It ranked 35 on Total Film's 2010 top list of 50 Animated Films. The film ranked on Wizards Anime Magazine on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America".

Ghost in the Shell has also influenced a number of prominent filmmakers. The Wachowskis, creators of The Matrix and its sequels, showed it to producer Joel Silver, saying, "We wanna do that for real." The Matrix series took several concepts from the film, including the Matrix digital rain, which was inspired by the film's opening credits, and the way characters access the Matrix through holes in the back of their necks. Other parallels have been drawn to James Cameron's Avatar, Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and Jonathan Mostow's Surrogates. James Cameron cited Ghost in the Shell as a source of inspiration for Avatar, calling it "the first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence."

### Awards

The film won Best Screenplay at Yokohama Film Festival and was nominated five Annie Award categories in 24th Annie Awards: Best Animated Feature, Best Achievement in Directing (Mamoru Oshii), Best Achievement in Producing (Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Ken Iyadomi, Ken Matsumoto, Yoshimasa Mizuo, and Shigeru Watanabe), Best Achievement in Production Design (Takashi Watabe and Hiromasa Ogura), and Best Achievement in Writing (Kazunori Itô), but all lost to Toy Story; unless, making it the most nominations for a Japanese animated film ever in Annies history, until ties with Belle in 26 years.

## Themes

The film explores nature of human cyborgs, consciousness, self-aware computer programs and memory alteration. In one of the monologues delivered by the Puppet Master throughout the film, it is argued that the human DNA is nothing more than a program designed to self-preserve. There are also multiple mentions of the act of granting political asylum to self-aware computer programs.

The film depicts Motoko's identity and ontological concerns and ends with the evolution of the Puppet Master, a being without reproduction. Austin Corbett characterized the lack of sexualization from her team as freedom from femininity, noting that Motoko is "overtly feminine, and clearly non-female". In describing Motoko as a "shapely" and "strong [female protagonist] at the center of the story" who is "nevertheless almost continuously nude", Roger Ebert noted that "an article about anime in a recent issue of Film Quarterly suggests that to be a 'salary man' in modern Japan is so exhausting and dehumanizing that many men (who form the largest part of the animation audience) project both freedom and power onto women, and identify with them as fictional characters". Carl Silvio has called Ghost in the Shell a "resistant film", due to its inversion of traditional gender roles, its "valorization of the post-gendered subject", and its de-emphasis of the sexual specificity of the material body.

1995 film by Mamoru Oshii


Ed White (astronaut)

Edward Higgins White II (November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967) was an American aeronautical engineer, United States Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He was a member of the crews of Gemini 4 and Apollo 1.

After graduating from West Point in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science degree, White was sent to flight training, and assigned to the 22nd Fighter Day Squadron at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, where he flew the F-86 Sabre and F-100 Super Sabre fighters. In 1958, he enrolled in the University of Michigan to study aeronautical engineering, receiving his Master of Science degree in 1959. White then received test pilot training at Edwards Air Force Base, California, before being assigned as a test pilot for the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

White was selected as one of the second group of astronauts, the so-called "Next Nine", who were chosen to take part in the Gemini and Apollo missions. He was assigned as pilot of Gemini 4 alongside command pilot James McDivitt. On June 3, 1965, White became the first American to walk in space. He was then assigned as senior pilot of the first crewed Apollo mission, Apollo 1. White died on January 27, 1967, alongside astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee in a fire during pre-launch testing for Apollo 1 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his flight in Gemini 4 and was then awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously.

## Early life

Edward Higgins White II was born on November 14, 1930, in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Edward Higgins White Sr. (1901–1978), a West Point graduate (Class of 1924) who later rose to become major general in the United States Air Force (USAF), and Mary Rosina White (née Haller; 1900–1983). He had a younger brother, James Blair White (1942–1969), and an older sister, Jeanne. His interest in aviation was sparked at the age of twelve when his father took him for a ride in a North American T-6 Texan trainer. He became a member of the Boy Scouts of America, where he earned the rank of Second Class Scout.

Due to the nature of his father's job, White's family moved often to different military bases across the country throughout his childhood. The White family moved from San Antonio, Texas to Dayton, Ohio, where he attended Oakwood Junior High School, and to Washington, D.C., where he attended Western High School. After graduating in 1948, he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and attend West Point, but his family's peripatetic life presented a problem: an appointment to West Point from a United States Congressman was required, and the family had not been continuously resident in any one place for very long. White went down to the Capitol and knocked on Congressmen's doors seeking an appointment, armed with a glowing reference from his high school principal. He eventually secured one from Congressman Ross Rizley from Oklahoma.

White entered West Point on July 15, 1948. He acquired the nickname "Red" from the color of his hair. While at West Point, White competed for a spot on the 1952 U.S. Olympic team in the 400 meter hurdles race, but missed qualification in the heat by 0.4 seconds. White was also a half-back on the West Point soccer team. His hobbies included squash, handball, swimming, golf, and photography. His classmates included Michael Collins, who later became an astronaut as well.

### Military service

Upon graduation with a Bachelor of Science degree from West Point, ranked 128th out of 523 in the Class of 1952, White was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. Under a 1949 agreement, up to 25 percent of the graduating classes of West Point and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis could volunteer for the Air Force. Between 1950, when the agreement became effective, and 1959, when the first class graduated from the United States Air Force Academy, about 3,200 West Point cadets and Annapolis midshipmen chose to do so. White received his initial pilot training at Bartow Air Base, Florida, and his jet training at James Connally Air Force Base, Texas. After receiving his pilot wings in 1953, White was assigned to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, for Fighter Gunnery School. In February 1953, White married Patricia Eileen Finegan (1934–1983), whom he had met at a West Point football game. They had two children, Edward Higgins White III (born in 1953) and Bonnie Lynn White (born in 1956).

White was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Squadron at Bitburg Air Base in West Germany, where he spent three and a half years flying North American F-86 Sabre and North American F-100 Super Sabre fighters. Among his colleagues was Buzz Aldrin, who graduated a year ahead of him at West Point. In 1957, White read an article about the astronauts of the future, and decided to become one. He believed that getting an advanced degree would improve his chances of being selected. Aldrin later recalled that White convinced him to follow this path as well. In September 1958, White enrolled in the University of Michigan under Air Force sponsorship to study aeronautical engineering. His classmates included James McDivitt, Jim Irwin and Ted Freeman. White was awarded his Master of Science degree in 1959.

After it became clear that being a test pilot would also improve his chances of being selected to become an astronaut, White attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, with class 59-C, which graduated in July 1959. McDivitt was one of his classmates. White was assigned to the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. There, he did flight tests for weapons development, and helped make recommendations for aircraft design on aircraft such as the Fairchild C-123 Provider, Convair C-131 Samaritan, Boeing C-135 Stratolifter, the North American F-100 Super Sabre, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. As a weightlessness- and extended-flight-training captain, he piloted the planes that were used to train astronauts in weightlessness. His passengers included John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and Ham, the first hominid in space. During his career, White would log more than 3,000 flight hours with the Air Force, including about 2,200 hours in jets.

## NASA career

### Gemini program

White was one of eleven pilots whose names the Air Force submitted to NASA in 1962 as potential candidates for the second group of astronauts. He was then selected as one of 32 finalists who would undergo medical and psychological examinations at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio. White arrived at the Aerospace Medical Center at Brooks AFB on July 30, 1962. He ran around the perimeter of Brooks every day during the testing to keep in shape.

White was one of nine men chosen by NASA as part of Astronaut Group 2 in September 1962. Their selection was announced at a press conference in Cullen Auditorium at the University of Houston on September 17, 1962. Like their predecessors, the Mercury Seven, each of the new astronauts was assigned an area of specialization within the crewed space program: in White's case, flight control systems.

#### Gemini 4

White was selected to be the pilot of Gemini 4, with McDivitt as his command pilot. The Chief of the Astronaut Office, Mercury Seven astronaut Deke Slayton, paired them because they knew each other well, having attended the University of Michigan and test pilot school together. The mission objectives were ill-defined at first, but consideration was given to performing extravehicular activity (EVA), space rendezvous and orbital station-keeping.

Knowing that EVA (sometimes called a "spacewalk") was a possibility, McDivitt pressed for it to be included in the mission. As a result, NASA management agreed to ensure that the Gemini space suit for the mission was capable of being used for EVA. Kenneth S. Kleinknecht told the July 1964 press conference that announced the mission that one of the crew might open the hatch and stick his head outside, but this attracted little attention. On March 18, 1965, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first man to perform an EVA, on the Voskhod 2 mission, but not until May 25 was EVA approved for Gemini 4 by NASA administrator James E. Webb.

White was a devout Methodist. On the Gemini 4 mission he carried three pieces of religious jewelry to take with him on his EVA: a gold cross, a St. Christopher Medal and a Star of David. White commented: "I felt while I couldn't take one for every religion in the country, I could take the items most familiar to me."

On June 3, 1965, the Gemini 4 crew was launched into space to begin its four-day mission. After separation from the Titan II upper stage, McDivitt attempted to rendezvous with the booster. However, this was unsuccessful since the astronauts were not adequately trained to rendezvous in orbit. The objective had to be abandoned since the allocated propellant had been used up, and the maneuvers had pushed the spacecraft's orbit too far away from Earth. The mission also included 11 different scientific experiments, including the use of a sextant for celestial navigation.

After the failed rendezvous attempt, White appeared tired and hot, so the EVA was postponed from the second revolution to the third revolution. At 19:46 UTC, White became the first American to make an EVA. During his spacewalk, White used an oxygen-propelled gun called the Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit to propel himself. White found the experience so exhilarating that he was reluctant to terminate the EVA at the allotted time, and had to be ordered back into the spacecraft.

While White was outside, a spare thermal glove floated away through the open hatch of the spacecraft, becoming an early piece of space debris in low Earth orbit, until it burned up upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. There was a mechanical problem with the hatch mechanism, which made it difficult to open and to relatch. McDivitt was able to get the door locked by using his glove to push on the gears that controlled the mechanism. This added to the time constraint of the spacewalk and could have threatened the lives of both men if McDivitt had been unable to get the hatch latched, as they could not re-enter the atmosphere with an unsealed hatch.

> I'm coming back in... and it's the saddest moment of my life.

When they returned to Earth, the two astronauts found that they were now celebrities. President Lyndon B. Johnson came to Houston to congratulate them, and he promoted them to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Later that week they traveled to the White House where Johnson presented them the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. They were given a ticker tape parade in Chicago, and went to the 1965 Paris Air Show, where they met cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

White's next assignment after Gemini 4 was as the backup for Gemini 7 command pilot Frank Borman, with Collins assigned as his pilot. He was also named the astronaut specialist for the flight control systems of the Apollo command module. Under the usual procedure of crew rotation in the Gemini program, White would have been in line for a second flight as the command pilot of Gemini 10 in July 1966, which would have made him the first of his group to fly twice. He instead would be selected for the Apollo I program.

### Apollo program

In March 1966, White was selected as senior pilot (second seat) for the first crewed Apollo flight, designated AS-204. His fellow astronauts would be Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom, who had flown in space on the Mercury-Redstone 4 mission in 1961 and as commander of the Gemini 3 in 1965, and Pilot Roger Chaffee, who had yet to fly into space. The mission, which the men named Apollo 1 in June, was originally planned for late 1966 to coincide with the last Gemini mission, but the impracticality of making the Gemini capsule and systems compatible with Apollo and delays in the spacecraft development pushed the launch into 1967.

The launch of Apollo 1 was planned for February 21, 1967. The crew entered the spacecraft at 13:00 on January 27, mounted atop its Saturn IB booster on Launch Pad 34 at Cape Kennedy, for a "plugs-out" test of the spacecraft. The test was to demonstrate all of the space vehicle systems and procedures, which included an abbreviated countdown and flight simulation. It was not classified as hazardous since the rocket would not be fueled during the test. The test's progress was delayed by problems with a cabin odor and poor communications between the ground stations and the crew. At 18:31, a fire broke out in the pure oxygen-filled cabin, killing all three crewmen.

Emergency roles had called for White to actuate the inner hatch release handle; then, Grissom would assist him in the removal of the cover, while Chaffee would maintain communications. White had apparently tried to do his part: his body was found in his center seat, with his arms reaching over his head toward the hatch. Removing the cover to open the hatch was impossible because the plug door design required venting normally slightly greater-than-atmospheric pressure and pulling the cover into the cabin. Grissom was unable to reach the cabin vent control to his left, where the fire's source was located. The intense heat raised the cabin pressure even more, to 29 pounds per square inch (200 kPa), at which point the cabin walls ruptured. The astronauts were killed by asphyxiation, smoke inhalation, and thermal burns.

### Aftermath

The fire's ignition source was determined to be a spark that jumped from a wire on the far left of the spacecraft, under Grissom's seat. Their deaths were attributed to a wide range of lethal hazards in the early Apollo Command Module design: workmanship and conditions of the test, including the highly pressurized 100% oxygen pre-launch atmosphere, many wiring and plumbing flaws, flammable materials used in the cockpit and the astronauts' flight suits, and a hatch which could not be quickly opened in an emergency. After the incident, these problems were fixed, and the Apollo program carried on successfully to reach its objective of landing men on the Moon.

White was buried with full military honors at West Point Cemetery while Grissom and Chaffee are both buried in Arlington National Cemetery. NASA officials attempted to pressure Patricia White, his widow, into allowing her husband also to be buried at Arlington, against what she knew to be his wishes; their efforts were foiled by astronaut Frank Borman. Patricia received \$100,000 from the life insurance portion of the contract the astronauts signed to give two publishing firms exclusive rights to the stories and photographs of the astronauts and their families. She also received \$16,250 annually for the life of the contract. Patricia later remarried and continued to reside in Houston. On September 6, 1983, she took her own life after surgery earlier in the year to remove a tumor.

White's younger brother James resolved to follow in his older brother's footsteps. He graduated from the Air Force Academy and became a fighter pilot. He set his sights on becoming a test pilot and then an astronaut. He thought that air combat experience would facilitate this, so he volunteered for service in the Vietnam War. While flying a combat mission on November 24, 1969, with 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, he was killed when his aircraft crashed. Nearly half a century later his remains were identified, and they were buried adjacent to White's in West Point Cemetery on June 19, 2018.

## Organizations

White was a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots; associate member of Institute of Aerospace Sciences; Tau Delta Phi (Engineering Honorary); and Sigma Delta Psi (Athletic Honorary).

## Awards and honors

- Senior Astronaut Wings
- Air Force Commendation Medal
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, 1965
- Medalha Bandeirantes va Cosmonautica
- Firefly Club Award
- Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation, 1965
- Five Outstanding Young Texans, 1965
- National Aviation Club's Achievement Award, 1966

White and McDivitt were presented honorary doctorate degrees in astronautical science by the University of Michigan after their Gemini 4 flight. The duo were also awarded the Arnold Air Society's John F. Kennedy Trophy. White received the 1965 General Thomas D. White National Defense Award for his spacewalk. It is a trophy given by the National Geographic Society to outstanding air force personnel. He was inducted into the Aerospace Primus Club (the "most exclusive club on Earth") for his EVA. He was awarded the AIAA Haley Astronautics Award for 1967. The Apollo 1 crew was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal posthumously in a 1969 presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 11 crew. President Clinton presented the White and Chaffee families with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1997 (Grissom's family received the medal in 1978).

White, along with nine other Gemini astronauts, was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1982. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1993 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame on July 18, 2009.

## Memorials

### Schools

Many schools have been named in honor of White:

- Edward White Elementary Career Academy in Chicago
- Edward H. White Middle School in White's hometown of San Antonio, Texas
- Edward H. White II Elementary School in El Lago, Texas
- Edward White Elementary School in Eldridge, Iowa
- Ed White Memorial High School in League City, Texas
- Edward H. White High School in Jacksonville, Florida
- Edward H. White Elementary School in Houston, Texas.
- Ed White Middle School in Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville is home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and has strong community ties to the space program. At the same time, the Huntsville City Schools named Roger B. Chaffee Elementary School and Virgil I. Grissom High School for White's fallen Apollo 1 crewmates.
- Edward H. White Memorial Youth Center, Seabrook, Texas

### Other sites

- Edward White Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida (closed in 2014).
- Edward H. White II Park in Fullerton, California. Fullerton has also named parks in honor of Chaffee and Grissom.
- Island White, an artificial island in Long Beach Harbor off Southern California.
- Edward H. White Hall was a dormitory at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.
- McDivitt-White Plaza is located outside West Hall at the University of Michigan. West Hall formerly housed the College of Engineering and counts James McDivitt and Ed White among its alumni (McDivitt earned his B.S. and White earned his M.S. at the University of Michigan).
- The dismantled Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral bears two memorial plaques. One reads, "They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived." and the other "In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice so others could reach for the stars. Ad astra per aspera, (a rough road leads to the stars). God speed to the crew of Apollo 1."
- Edward H. White II American Legion Post 521; Pasadena, Texas.
- Edward White Park in Garland, Texas.
- Edward White Way in Oakland, California, a service road which runs along the Southern edge of Oakland International Airport. The airport has multiple roads named after NASA astronauts.

### In space

- The star Iota Ursae Majoris was nicknamed "Dnoces" ("Second", as in "Edward Higgins White the Second", spelled backwards).
- White Hill, 11.2 km (7.0 mi) northwest of Columbia Memorial Station on Mars, is a part of the Apollo 1 Hills.
- A photograph of White performing his Gemini 4 space walk is included as one of several images on the Voyager Golden Record.

### Philatelic

- Eight months after his death, in September 1967, a postage stamp was issued by the United States Post Office, commemorating White's spacewalk. It was the first time in USPO history that the design was actually spread over two stamps (one which featured White, the other his Gemini capsule, the two connected by a tether), which was considered befitting the "twins" aspect of the Gemini mission.

### Omega Speedmaster "Ed White"

The Omega Speedmaster wristwatch reference 105.003 has come to be known as the "Ed White" as this reference was worn by White during his spacewalk. The Speedmaster remains the only watch qualified by NASA for EVA use.

## In media

White was played by Steven Ruge in the 1995 film Apollo 13, by Chris Isaak in the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and by Matt Lanter in the 2015 ABC TV series The Astronaut Wives Club. In 2018, he was portrayed by Jason Clarke in First Man.

## See also

- Fallen Astronaut
- List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents

American astronaut (1930–1967)

National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees

Recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor

Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal

United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees

University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni