New museum on cryptography

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Date: Tue, 25 Jan 1994 09:32:41 -0500 (EST)
From: jepstein () cordant com (Jeremy Epstein -C2 PROJECT)
Subject: New museum on cryptography




The 24 Jan 1994 *Washington Post* has an article about a new museum of
cryptography at NSA.  The author describes the runaround in trying to locate
it, finding the usual problem of NSA phone numbers which answer with
extensions and people who don't have names.  The article then goes on to
describe why cryptography is so important.


The museum contains all sorts of gems of the cryptography trade, including
some old ciphering machines, displays of Civil War use of SIGINT, Enigmas
(including one that can be tried out by museum visitors), and a Cray X-MP.


The museum is located in a building surrounded by barbed wire behind
an old gas station near Baltimore.  According to the author:
        The National Cryptologic Museum, reached by exiting the
        Baltimore-Washington Parkway east on Route 32 and heading
        behind the Shell station, is open from 9am to 3pm Monday
        through Friday.  Some at NSA say you can reach it at
        301-688-5849.  Others at NSA deny that number exists.
I haven't been there (if it in fact exists :-), and would be interested
in hearing from others if it's worth the trip.


--Jeremy Epstein  Cordant, Inc.  jepstein () cordant com


    [I'm sure some readers will find risks.  BTW, for old-timers, it was
    the Colony 7 motel.  I am told it is indeed open to the public.  PGN]