Acquisition Activity
The National Cryptologic Museum Foundation is constantly acquiring new artifacts that illuminate on the history and purposes of cryptology. These acquisitions give visitors a more intimate and first-hand glimpse of the thinking, tinkering and tools that have changed history.
A Museums Challenge
One of the biggest challenges for any museum is the ability to rotate and refresh its displays and exhibits periodically in order to attract new and repeat visitors to the museum. This ability requires having both additional artifacts in storage, and an active acquisitions program to acquire new artifacts and collectibles to use in future museum displays. We are pleased to say the National Cryptologic Museum (NCM) has both.
On Display and In Storage
Only a very small fraction of the material in the Museum’s inventory is on display or available through the NCM Library. The Museum curator and staff have recently undertaken a major initiative to catalog and database the entire inventory of museum holdings. This is an enormous task that will take many months to complete. New acquisitions occur monthly. Some are incorporated into existing displays almost immediately, while others are placed in storage waiting for their turn to be presented to the viewing public.
The Acquisition Committee: Who Are We?
The Foundation’s Acquisition Committee (AC) currently consists of Dave D’Auria (Chairman) and David Hamer (Vice Chairman). Dave D’Auria is a retired senior executive career NSA employee and former collector and airborne direction finding specialist with the USAF Security Service (now the Electronic Security Command – ESC). David Hamer is our United Kingdom liaison officer and an extremely knowledgeable expert on a variety of historic cryptographic systems. Together they form the core of our new acquisitions team.
The Acquisition Process: What Do We Look For?
As our name implies we are the National Cryptologic Museum and we therefore look for items that have specific and direct cryptographic significance. Those are often the easiest items to identify (e.g., a rare cipher machine or encryption device) but the hardest items to find. And when we do find them they are usually very expensive and often beyond our financial means to acquire without help from donors and sponsors.
We have been fortunate in the past that donors (both identified and anonymous) have helped us with specific acquisitions of very expensive but cryptologically and historically significant cryptographic devices.
Our acquisition interests are not just limited to rare cipher machines and books on cryptology. We also look for items related to cryptology such as pamphlets, rare manuscripts, advertising-related items, movies and old security posters, and other “period” pieces such as newspapers and other items that enhance the displays we present at the Museum.
The Acquisition Process: Where Do We Look?
We use a traditional and eclectic mix of sources to acquire new items for the Museum. In the recent past those sources have included private collectors of cryptographic memorabilia; antique malls and shows; flea markets; former employees of NSA; our contractor partners; private donors; and, yes even eBay.
We are pleased to say that many items are donated at no cost to the Foundation. Others have cost many thousands of dollars to acquire. The search goes on daily.
Acquisitions: For the Future
The Acquisition Committee would like to create an artifacts wish list to focus our acquisition efforts. No such list exists today, and most items we do acquire for the Museum are acquired either fortuitously (someone hears about the NCMF) or through the philanthropic benevolence of donors (such as Dr. Kahn’s donations). We've been fortunate to have such opportunities and obviously hope that acquisitions such as these will continue.
We would, however, like to change our role from one of mostly “gatherers” of artifacts to one of both “hunters” and “gatherers.” We want to begin targeting the acquisition of specific pieces for the Museum’s collection. In the absence of appropriated funds for acquisitions, a sustained fund raising campaign to support acquisitions, or any sustained acquisition-related partnerships, the "hunting" and "targeting' of artifacts has either not been possible or not been tried in the past. We'd like to change that.
A critical component of knowing what to “hunt and target” is knowing what you already have in your inventory. Up to now the Museum did not have a viable interactive artifacts database. The construction of that database is an important work in progress. Once completed we hope to work with the Museum curator and staff to develop an artifacts "Top X Wish List". The list should be unconstrained and reflect items of historic and/or technological significance warranting the potential cost of acquisition, and befitting of display at our nation’s Museum. Once our Top X Wish List is developed, synthesized, prioritized and approved, we can then pursue a range of options to acquire the most desirable and available artifacts for the museum, most likely in partnership with our benefactors.
Acquisitions: The Committee’s Extended Network
You don't have to be an appointed Board or Committee member to play a potentially significant role in helping the Foundation with the important task of acquiring new artifacts for the Museum. In a recent example, an Agency alumna called the Foundation to report a cryptographic item of interest she saw being appraised on the Antiques Road Show television series! In another example one of our alumni visited a Navajo Codetalkers Museum in the mid west and brought back a Navajo Codetalker doll. Since travel and antiquing are popular pastimes for many of our alumni, please keep us in mind and don't hesitate to call and report on any cryptographic rarities or other items of interest you come across along the way. You can call the Foundation’s main office at 301-688-5436 or send an email to CRYPTMF@aol.com for the acttention and action by the Acquisition Committee.
Acquisitions: What More Can You Do?
Many of NSA’s alumni, associates and partners are skilled and versed in some area of cryptology, and all have unique experience and knowledge that may contribute to acquiring new items of interest or constructing a Top X Wish List. Here’s some additional help you can provide! I respectfully ask that you each do some individual brainstorming and send us your thoughts, suggestions and ideas on acquisitions. Please be as explicit as possible with respect to:
- specific equipment (e.g., a cipher machine, encryptor/decryptor, etc.)
- intelligence stories (for which declassified documents may exist)
- period pieces (to enhance and/or embellish either of the above)
- places to look (e.g., libraries that may hold related-historic artifacts)
- individual and/or private collectors that may present opportunities for us
- other people to talk to (who may have more precise information of value)
- other potentially unique display items (e.g., the spy-related toy display)
- any other ideas and suggestions you wish to offer
Please give this some serious thought and send us your input. We will work with the Museum staff and others to develop and prioritize the Top X Wish List and determine how to proceed in acquiring specific items for the Museum’s collection.
Acquisitions: Do You Have Any Cryptographic Artifacts?
At one of our general membership meetings one of our Foundation members offered to donate a cryptographic item he had received from the Agency in recognition for his project management work. Other retired Foundation members are now starting to downsize and are looking for “a good home” for some of their career-related mementos. Scale models of cryptographic items, rare photos of cryptologic sites and platforms, rare books and manuscripts on cryptology, and models of cipher machines, wheels and discs are just a few of the items the Foundation and Museum would be very interested in helping you preserve for posterity. So, please remember the Foundation and Museum as you get ready to make those hard decisions to part with any cryptographic related artifacts you may have acquired in the course of your career.
Thanks in advance for your time, energy, knowledge and insight, and your critically needed help.
