Artifacts from Alan Turing Returned After Being Seized from Colorado Woman

Alan Turing has been called the father of modern computer science and artificial intelligence, and he’s one of the most important queer figures in history. Now, a number of artifacts relating to Turing have been returned to their rightful place after the bizarre case of a woman in Conifer, Colorado who stole them in 1984.

According to The Denver Post, the United States government turned back over Turing’s 1938 PhD diploma from Princeton University, an Order of the British Empire medal with accompanying letter from King George VI, and a collection of other artifacts to the all-boys academy Sherbourne School in southern England. “I greatly regret that I am unable to give you personally the award which you have so well earned,” writes King George VI in his letter to Turing. “I now send it to you with my congratulations and my best wishes for your future happiness.”

According to Westword, the woman who took the items is named Julia Turing, although she doesn’t have any actual relation to the famous scientist. She was born Julie Ann Schwinghamer and had a chaotic upbringing with an abusive mother that led to her being bounced around to foster families. In 1988, she changed her last name to Turing in honor of her idol since she kept having to change her last name so many times growing up anyway. “I was done with being bounced around from place to place and from name to name,” she tells the Westword. “I took his name because I thought it was appropriate. He saved my life.”

According to the aforementioned Denver Post article, Julia Turing took a tour of the Sherbourne School in 1984 and swiped the items, leaving behind a note. “Please forgive me for taking these materials into my possession,” the note reads. “They will be well taken care of while under the care of my hands and shall one day all be returned to this spot.” Then, in 2018, Julia Turing contacted the University of Colorado at Boulder claiming to be a relative of Turing wanting to loan the items to the University. This tipped off the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who seized the items from her home.

“Few people have had a greater positive impact upon the world than Alan Turing,” Sherborne headmaster and CEO, Dr. Dominic Luckett, says in a statement reported on in the Post. “As a school, we are intensely proud of our association with Alan Turing and want to do all we can to preserve and promote his legacy.  As part of that, we take very seriously our responsibility to look after those items in our archives which relate to his time at Sherborne School and his subsequent life and work.”

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