What is past is prologue.
—William Shakespeare
The halls of the Central Intelligence Agency
Museum artfully display
and remind CIA officers of their history. But not many people pause to think
about the work that goes into putting together an exhibit. A lot of research is
conducted in selecting artifacts and placing them in their historical context.
The people that make these exhibits come to life are the staff of the CIA Museum.
The
CIA Museum operates under the auspices if
the Center for the Study of Intelligence and works in tandem with the
Agency's History staff to develop the museum's historical programs. The Museum
staff consists of three employees supplemented with contractors and volunteers.
Here’s your
opportunity to meet the CIA
Museum staff and find out
how they bring the past alive.
This is the second
article in a series about the CIA
Museum. To learn more,
read the first article, “The CIA Museum: Looking Back to See the Future,”
in our series.
Bill
Title: Docent
Time with the museum:
2 years
Q: What are your
responsibilities as docent?
A: I need to be
familiar with the tour itself and the artifacts in the exhibits. I’m fortunate
that I have a great deal of background from my time with the CIA and the FBI,
so I can field most questions pretty easily. I spent 28 years with the FBI—15
of which were in New York—and
23 years with the CIA.
Q: Do you have a
favorite exhibit?
A: My favorite is
the Oleg Penkovsky exhibit because I can go into depth about it and draw from
my FBI experience when I’m giving a tour.
Q: Do you have a
favorite artifact?
A: In the Cold
War gallery, there are two bottles of a solution that the East Germans
developed. They synthesized the hormones of a female German shepherd. If you
wanted to follow somebody or know where they’ve been, you would spray the
solution on their clothing or shoes and use male German Shepherds to follow the
scent. The spray was effective for three to five days.
Q: Why do you think
it’s so important for the CIA to maintain a museum?
A: The best
answer is on the front of the National Archives building. It says, “What’s past
is prologue.” You can’t divorce yourself from the past. We have a lot of new
employees and I think it’s good to have the continuity with the history of the
Agency. It’s good for them to know what happened in the past.
Jenna
Title: Archivist
Time with the museum:
2 years
- The entrance to the OSS Museum, which features the personal effects reflecting the career of Maj. Gen. William J. Donovan, the head of OSS.
Q: What are your
responsibilities as the CIA
Museum Archivist?
A: I perform a
variety of tasks mostly involving research, writing and interacting with
individuals from the public and private sectors. I address research inquiries
concerning historical operations and photographs and often use the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS) records housed at National Archives II in College Park, Maryland
– a fantastic resource. I’m currently working on a photo repository to house
our large collection of historical photographs. I consider myself fortunate
because archivists often perform one role. I have the opportunity to work with
artifacts and documents, conduct research and lead museum tours – all while
working with great colleagues in an exciting and fast-paced environment. Even
though my job deals with Agency history, I enjoy working with current
information, as well, traveling to a number of cities around the world to
interview members of our workforce and the intelligence community.
Q: What do you enjoy
the most about working for the CIA
Museum?
A: I enjoy
working with a collection that few people have the opportunity to see.
Transferring to the Museum has allowed me to return to a field I’ve always
enjoyed and learn more about all aspects of the Agency, past and present. The
Museum has a relationship with each directorate and we feel as though we serve
both an educational and operational mission. The fact we receive a lot of
positive feedback from the workforce is particularly satisfying.
Q: Do you have a favorite exhibit?
A: I like all of
the exhibits, but as an archivist, I’d have to say that my favorite items are
our historical documents and photographs. My favorite document is the original
letter from President Harry S. Truman to Maj. Gen. William J. Donovan
instructing him to disband OSS
in 10 days.
Q: How did you first
become interested in working in museums and archives?
A: As a child, I
thoroughly enjoyed reading about US presidents and American history, in
general. I benefited from museum programs as well as wonderful history teachers
and professors who encouraged me to study what I loved. The CIA Museum
and more traditional museums and archives offer an interesting work
environment, public interaction and a valuable service to their patrons.
Carolyn
Title: CIA Museum
Deputy Director/Collections Manager
Time with the museum:
8 years
Q: What are your
responsibilities as the CIA
Museum Deputy
Director/Collections Manager?
A: As deputy
director, I’m there to back up the director. I’m the museum technical person in
terms of keeping up the Web sites—internal and external. As collections
manager, I am responsible for the collection, which includes documenting the
entire collection. In 2008, I started a volunteer program to help document the
collection. We’ve had over 370 hours of volunteer work in the first six months
of the program. I assist with the development of exhibits and coordinate and
give tours, as well.
- CIA's Office of Research and Development designed the pigeon camera as a new method of collecting intelligence. The pigeon would be released, and on its return flight, the bird would fly over a target.
Q: What do you enjoy
the most about working for the CIA
Museum?
A: There’s never
a dull day. There’s always something interesting to do. I am constantly learning,
whether I’m researching an artifact or I’m giving a tour and somebody knows
something about an artifact. I learn things from people on tours all the time
and I integrate that into my tour. In the Afghan exhibit, we have two maps: a
silk map and a Tyvek map. Silk was used to make maps because it doesn’t rustle.
One man in my tour raised his hand and said that if you wash a Tyvek map, it
won’t rustle.
Q: Do you have a
favorite exhibit?
A: I love the Directorate
of Science and Technology (DS&T) exhibit because there are so many
interesting gadgets and technologies. It showcases the Agency’s ability to
innovate.
Q: Do you have a
favorite artifact?
A: I love the
pigeon camera. It’s an interesting solution. The technology that the DS&T
developed to make the camera so small and light is fascinating. On top of the
technology, the DS&T also had to delve into animal behavior and figure out
how the pigeons were going to be trained to fly their path and come back with
the camera.
Toni
Title: CIA Museum
Director/Agency Curator
Time with the museum:
9 years
Q: What are your
responsibilities as the CIA
Museum Director/Agency
Curator?
A: My job is
collecting, documenting and preserving this Agency’s tangible history. And then
we use that tangible history to create educational exhibits that inform,
instruct and inspire current and future generations of intelligence officers.
Q: What do you enjoy
the most about working for the CIA
Museum?
A: Doing exactly
as the museum’s mission statement says—informing, instructing and inspiring our
visitors. I love sharing the Agency’s history with our visitors. It’s also
fascinating to talk to Agency officers who are actually making history and
collect the tangibles that they used in the field.
- The CIA developed the A-12 Oxcart as the U-2's successor, intended to meet the nation's need for a very fast, very high-flying reconnaissance aircraft that could avoid Soviet air defenses.
Q: What is the most
challenging part about working for the CIA Museum?
A: I think the
most challenging part is debunking a lot of the preconceived notions that the
public has about the CIA. People trust museums to tell them the truth. Our
challenge is to tell the CIA’s story to the American people at the unclassified
level. The challenge is in knowing all these great stories and telling them in
a way that still protects the Agency’s equities, sources and methods.
Q: Do you have a
favorite exhibit?
A: I don’t think
I have a favorite one. Each one of the exhibits that we’ve done has taught me
so much about our organization and has enabled me to share that with everyone I
take on a tour.
Q: Do you have a
favorite artifact?
A: It’s
impossible for a curator to select one out of 6,000. There’s the A-12 Oxcart.
That’s one of my big favorites. A girl has to accessorize and nothing becomes a
curator like black titanium! I walk out to that aircraft knowing it’s one of
only nine in the world. We’re privileged to have one here at CIA.
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