Beginnings: Frederika “Marm” Mandelbaum, New York City, and the Origins of Organized Crime in the US

Episode transcript:

In the first episode of the original podcast Pettengill outlines the four “tenats” of organized crime and uses Frederika Mandelbaum as an example of an early pioneer of organized crime. Special attention is given to the setting, New York City. Pettengill chronicles the history of New York, noting its Dutch colonial roots and the roles diversity and multicilturalism played throughout the history of New York. He also underscores the process of Gilded Age inmigration and the central role newcomers played in the foundation of a modern American economy. Mandelbaum, a Jewish inmigrant from Kassel, Germany, essentially organized crime in New York. She brought together an eclectic assortment of criminals – pickpockets, bank robbers, “confidence women”, etc. – and organized them to function as a cohesive entity for her own personal profit. Moreover, she ensured a safe operating environment by paying off law enforcement officials. Altought Mandelbaum was eventually arrested (and fled to Canada to escape prosecution), she serves as a vivid early example of organized crime in American history.