Alan Turing Degree, Medal And Memorabilia Recovered In Colorado
Source: The Guardian
The British scientist Alan Turing’s Princeton doctoral degree, OBE medal and other items of memorabilia have been recovered in Colorado, 35 years after they were taken from Sherborne School in Dorset. Turing, a great of British science, was persecuted for his homosexuality and died in 1954, aged 41, his death ruled a suicide. His reputation has since been fully restored and celebrated.
In July 2019 a member of the government committee which decided he should appear on the new £50 note, Dr Emily Grossman, wrote in the Guardian: “His contribution to science is clear. “[He was] the father of computer science, a significant influence on the modern field of artificial intelligence and most importantly, his work at Bletchley Park during the second world war led a team of code-breakers to crack the German Enigma code.”
In 2008, the Princeton Alumni Weekly named Turing the college’s second-most influential graduate, behind only James Madison, the fourth American president who was one of the authors of the US constitution. Six years later, in The Imitation Game, a film directed by Morten Tyldum, Turing was played by Benedict Cumberbatch. On Friday, in court filings reported by the Boulder Daily Camera and other outlets, federal officials said they had recovered and were seeking the forfeiture of Turing’s degree certificate, the medal and photos, reports and letters from his time at boarding school.
The items were stolen in 1984, the filing said, after a woman asked to see the Turing archive at Sherborne. A note was later found which said: “Please forgive me for taking these materials into my possession. They will be well taken care of while under the care of my hands and shall one day all be returned to this spot.” In 2018 a woman named Julia Turing offered the items on loan to the University of Colorado Boulder. The court filing said the woman was not related to the British scientist but changed her surname from Schwinghamer in 1988...
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/21/alan-turing-degree-medal-memorabilia-recovered-colorado
- Alan Turing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing
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While his contributions to the war and to computer science were respected, it was all discounted because of his sexual preference. The librarians didn't even care enough to properly inventory his memorabilia - that shows the little regard they had for him.
I'm glad that Turing has received the recognition he deserves but find it infinitely sad that he was treated so badly he took his life. Think of all the brilliant work he could have done if he had been treated with the respect he deserved and could have continued his work. 
If the evangelicals have their way this country will go back to that kind of horrible treatment and we will lose more brilliants minds to their prejudices. 
