Espionage: Intelligence, Secrets and Spies

This exhibition is drawn from a variety of collections held by the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and explores both the fact and the fiction connected with the world of international espionage. The exhibition ranges from the literary world of spy-master Eric Ambler and the mind games of Richard Condon's Manchurian Candidate, to the very real world of spies and spying: from the American Revolution and patriot Silas Deane through the Cold War's complex personal tragedies of Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs, to the supposed conspiracies in the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

The exhibition presents a broad range of stories and personalties. Some are well known figures, such as F.B.I. agent Melvin Purvis and his boss, J. Edgar Hoover; while others are less familiar, such as the larger than life exploits of O.S.S. and C.I.A. agent Michael Burke or the World War II political intrigues of Tyler Kent. It explores the Stalin-era drama of secret imprisonment and unyielding determination as told through the Field family and examines the world of Communist disinformation and the development of the intelligence gathering process: from personal observation to the "eyes in the sky."

As these various stories unfold, the exhibition presents an insight into the shadow world of espionage, secrets and spies.

The exhibition opened to the public September 21, 2005