COLLECTIONS
William F. Friedman Papers
William Frederick Friedman (1891-1969) was an American cryptologist, considered by some experts to be the greatest of all time. In August 1940, a Signal Intelligence Service team led by Friedman and assisted by the Navy, broke the Japanese PURPLE code. Friedman continued to serve U.S. cryptologic agencies during and after the war.
The private cryptological work of Friedman and his wife, Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who was also a distinguished professional cryptographer, is also documented here. Among the many topics covered are the question of the authorship of the works of Shakespeare; archaeologically discovered codes and ciphers (especially in Mayan culture); and the Beale ciphers, which, if deciphered, would reputedly lead to the site of buried treasure.)
The Friedman Collection: An Analytical Guide is a painstakingly thorough inventory researched and written by Virginia Military Institute Professor Rose Mary Sheldon.

Collection Formats:
Collection Guide