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NSA's mission requires constant innovation in areas like high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and more, but that's not all. NSA offers fantastic perks, too. Flexible work schedules, professional development, and a supportive work environment that values your well-being. Ready to take your career to the next level? Visit NSA.gov slash innovation to explore exciting opportunities and learn more about what makes NSA an amazing place to work. In the late 1870s, many Americans faced terrible working conditions and long hours. The average workday was 10 hours a day, six days a week, and pay was low. Labor unrest in the coal and railroad industries escalated as workers across the nation pushed for better wages and a shorter eight-hour workday, while corporations pushed back, cracking down on unionization and labor reforms. The great railroad strike of 1877 saw rail workers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia walk off the job and in some cases vandalized rail lines in protest. In Reading, Pennsylvania, the state militia fired on striking workers and killed at least a dozen people. And right in the middle of all of these labor disputes was the Pinkerton Detective Agency. By now, William and Robert Pinkerton were exerting more influence on the business. Robert lobbied to continue expanding the company's protective patrol arm, which provided guards and watchmen to companies, towns, racetracks, factories, and railroads. This expansion established two tiers within the agency. The top tier included well-trained investigators and detectives. The other included the guards and watchmen of the protective department, many of them temporary employees on short-term assignments. But Allen Pinkerton had initially resisted this turn away from the company's previous role as frontier lawman, and for good reason. Into the 1880s, bandits on horseback continued to plague banks and railroads. Many of these criminals formed gangs, including the Burrow brothers of Alabama, the Daltans of Kansas, and the Sontags of California, and of course, the James brothers. Allen Pinkerton had continued to pursue his vendetta against them and occasionally sent agents out after them when he received new information. But despite his best efforts, he never managed to catch them. Still, their fate was sealed in 1882 when a fellow gang member killed Jesse, and Frank surrendered, finally crushing the James younger gang for good. But while Pinkerton's sons William and Robert had cut their teeth chasing bandits on horseback, by the early 1880s, they knew that risky side of the business was in decline. They urged their father to let them move the agency further into the security business. They also expanded their personal reputations as lawman by taking on overseas work, and William made a name for himself hunting down thieves in Europe. So before long, Pinkerton's sons were leading the agency out of the Wild West era and to greater heights and international acclaim. But in the meantime, their father, Allen Pinkerton, had grown frail and sickly. He and his wife, Joan, spent much of their time on the largest state they'd built outside Chicago, called the Largis. There they entertained visitors, including former President Ulysses S. Grant and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. And despite his poor health, Pinkerton would not relinkish control of his business. He still visited his Chicago office often, and continued to act as a leader of the agency, firing off blustry letters to his sons and to various satellite offices. One lingering sticking point between Allen and his sons was the hiring of female detectives. In an 1881 letter, Allen expressed frustration that the agency wasn't hiring more women. He wrote a set of instructions for the type of women to look for, explaining the ideal female agent should be 35 years old, an easy talker, about 5'6 with dark hair, clarifying I don't think blonde would do. He also joked that any female agent they hired should be single, but if married, her husband must be dead. But a few years later, in 1883, Allen's son Robert became the official superintendent of the New York office, and he resisted his father's call to hire more women. Allen scolded him for being disrespectful, telling Robert he could only call the shots after I'm dead, and the saw is growing over my grave. It was only a year later, when Allen Pinkerton was walking down a Chicago sidewalk that he fell and bit his tongue. He developed gangrene and died on July 1, 1884, at the age of 64. He was buried in the family plot in Chicago beside his favorite female detective, Kate Warren. Allen's wife Joan died two years later, and was buried in a plot on her husband's other side.