The CIA Museum, administered by the

Center for the Study of Intelligence The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

, is a national archive for the collection, preservation, documentation and exhibition of intelligence artifacts,

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. The collection, which currently numbers 3,500 items, consists of artifacts that have been officially declassified, however since the museum is on the compound of the

George Bush Center for Intelligence The George Bush Center for Intelligence is the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, located in the unincorporated community of Langley in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States; near Washington, D.C. The headquarters is a conglo ...

it is not accessible to the public. Since the museum cannot be visited by the public, the CIA Museum has partnerships with Presidential Libraries and other major museums and institutions to develop public exhibitions dedicated to understanding the craft of intelligence and its role in the broader American experience. The CIA Museum has counterparts at other agencies in the

United States Intelligence Community United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. The

National Cryptologic Museum The National Cryptologic Museum (NCM) is an American museum of cryptologic history that is affiliated with the National Security Agency (NSA). The first public museum in the U.S. Intelligence Community, NCM is located in the former Colony Seve ...

, which is open to the public in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, is the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collec ...

counterpart to the CIA Museum and focuses on cryptology as opposed to human intelligence. On the other hand, the DIA Museum is not public and is housed at its

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

and focuses on the history of military intelligence and DIA's role. The FBI Museum housed at its

is also off-limits to the public and is focused on its history as a federal law enforcement, counterintelligence, and counter-terrorism organization.

Collection

The CIA Museum's scope of collection includes material associated with all activities of the CIA's predecessor, the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

(OSS), material associated with activities of foreign intelligence organizations, and material associated with the history and mission of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. Articles in the Museum Collection include

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natura ...

equipment Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tools or other objects commonly used to achieve a particular objective. Different job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and ...

weapons A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

, and

memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a ...

and insignia designed, manufactured, or used by intelligence organizations historically and presently. The Collection also includes unique items such as weapons, clothing, and equipment developed specifically through research and development, or manufactured by units or individuals to further the mission of intelligence operations. The museum also displays

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his group is designated ...

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

along with a brick from the compound he was found in. In September 2022, to mark the agency's 75th anniversary, a small group of journalists were given exclusive access to the museum. BBC journalist Gordon Corera mentioned seeing "cold war spy gadgets" such as "'dead drop rat' in which messages could be hidden, a covert camera inside a cigarette packet, a pigeon with its own spy-camera and even an exploding martini glass."

Exhibits

As of 2017, The CIA Museum maintains three exhibits of important historical intelligence artifacts at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Dedicated in June 2002 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Office of Strategic Services, the CIA Museum's North Gallery houses an exhibit devoted to preserving the legacy CIA inherited from the

OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

. The exhibit displays personal memorabilia from Major General

William J. Donovan William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959) was an American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat, best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Bur ...

, the founder of the Office of Strategic Services, examples of OSS equipment; and a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

"Enigma" enciphering machine from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The Cold War Gallery was established in collaboration with collector and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

H. Keith Melton in 1997. ''"The Cold War: Fifty Years of Silent Conflict"'' showcases many of the 7,000 clandestine

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

artifacts from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, and

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, which form the world's largest private collection of

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

gear. ''"Analysis Informing American Policy"'', located in the Fine Arts Exhibit Hall, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Directorate of Intelligence (1952). File:Cold War Gallery - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg, Cold War Gallery. File:Beano grenade.jpg, The OSS A Beano grenade; a compass hidden in a uniform button. File:OSS Escape and Evasion Map - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg, Silk

Escape and evasion map Evasion charts or escape maps are maps made for servicemembers, and intended to be used when caught behind enemy lines to assist in performing escape and evasion. Such documents were secreted to prisoners of war by various means to aid in escape ...

, Office of Strategic Services. File:CIASemi-Submersible.jpg, CIA designed and manufactured this two-man

semi-submersible Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as: * Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport *Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface * ...

in the 1950s. File:RobotFishCharlie.jpg, Robot Fish Charlie,

Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), sometimes known as underwater drones, are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories: remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROU ...

(UUV) fish. File:Pigeon Camera - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg, Pigeon Camera, designed in the 1970s. File:DragonflyInsectothopter.jpg, Developed in the 1970s, this micro

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...

(UAV) was the first flight of an insect-sized

Micro air vehicle A micro air vehicle (MAV), or micro aerial vehicle, is a class of miniature UAVs that has a size restriction and may be autonomous. Modern craft can be as small as 5 centimeters. Development is driven by commercial, research, government, and mil ...

(Insectothopter). File:One-Time Pads - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg,

One-time pad In cryptography, the one-time pad (OTP) is an encryption technique that cannot be cracked, but requires the use of a single-use pre-shared key that is not smaller than the message being sent. In this technique, a plaintext is paired with a ran ...

File:Enigma-Machine.jpg, German Enigma Machine File:Afghan Gallery - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency (1).jpg, Afghan Gallery File:Al-Qa’ida Training Manual .jpg, Al-Qa’ida Training Manual picked up near Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2001. File:Afghan Saddle - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg, Afghan Saddle.

References

{{reflist
Central Intelligence Agency
Museums in Fairfax County, Virginia

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Espionage museums Military and war museums in Virginia Non-public museums in the United States Law enforcement museums in the United States