National Cryptologic Museum Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
National Cryptologic Museum

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Established	1993
Location	8290 Colony Seven Road Annapolis Junction, Maryland 20701 United States of America
Type	History
Visitors	50,000 annually

The National Cryptologic Museum (NCM) is a special museum in America. It teaches visitors all about cryptology, which is the science of secret codes and messages. This museum is connected to the National Security Agency (NSA), a U.S. government agency. The NCM was the first public museum of its kind in the U.S. intelligence world. It opened on December 16, 1993. About 50,000 people visit the museum each year. It is located in Maryland, very close to the NSA headquarters.

The NCM is usually open from Tuesday to Saturday. It closes on Sundays, Mondays, and all federal holidays. If the NSA closes due to bad weather, the museum also closes. The museum has a gift shop and a library. The library holds many interesting items. These include old files and books about cracking codes.

The National Vigilance Park (NVP) used to be next to the museum. It displayed three reconnaissance aircraft, which are planes used for spying. One plane was a U.S. Army Beechcraft RU-8D Seminole. It showed the Army's role in gathering Signals Intelligence during the Vietnam War. Another plane was a Lockheed C-130 Hercules. It honored a U.S. Air Force plane shot down during the Cold War. The third plane was a U.S. Navy Douglas EA-3B Skywarrior. This plane honored a mission where seven crew members died.

It is free to visit the NCM. You can take pictures inside, but please do not use a flash. The museum closed for a while in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on October 8, 2022, after getting some updates.

Discovering Cryptology's Past
Exploring the Museum's Collections
Activities and Educational Programs
NSA Hall of Honor
Photo gallery
See also

Discovering Cryptology's Past

The NCM has thousands of cool items. These include real World War II German Enigma machines. You can even try out two of them! There's also a Navy Bombe. This machine was used to break the Enigma code. The museum shows the history of American cryptology. It also highlights the people, machines, and methods used. The museum started by showing NSA items to employees. But it quickly grew into a big collection of U.S. cryptologic history. Some items are even older than the American Revolutionary War.

The museum also has exhibits about people who helped with codes. These include George Washington. He used secret messages during the Revolutionary War. There are also exhibits on Native American code talkers. They used their native languages to send secret messages in the World Wars. The Navy WAVES are also featured. These women helped to break German codes during WWII.

Exploring the Museum's Collections

The museum's items are grouped into four main areas:

Early Cryptology

This section covers code history before the NSA was formed. It has items from the 16th century. You can see things from the Founding Fathers of the United States and the American Civil War. There are also exhibits on United States Army Code talkers and both World Wars.

Cold War and the Information Age

This part looks at codes and code-breaking during the Cold War. It also shows the early days of the NSA. You can learn about the rise of computers and supercomputers.

Information Assurance

This area focuses on newer technologies. It includes satellites and secure voice communications. You can also learn about cyberdefense.

Memorial Hall

One side of this hall has the NSA Hall of Honor. The other side honors those who died in cryptologic missions. This includes the planes from NVP and other events like the USS Pueblo and USS Liberty.

Around the museum, there are also galleries. These show the roles of women and African Americans in code history. They also explore different languages used in cryptology.

The NCM has a library with many books and papers. These are all about the history of codes. You cannot borrow books from the library. But you can make copies or take photos. If you need to do a lot of research, you can make an appointment. The library grew much bigger thanks to a gift from David Kahn. He is a famous writer and historian of codes.

Activities and Educational Programs

The museum offers tours for visitors. These tours explain how codes have changed history. They also talk about jobs in the field of cryptology. Retired NSA employees lead these tours. If you have a group of six or more, it's a good idea to schedule your tour ahead of time.

The NCM also has special programs for students. These include field trips and talks. They are great for kids aged 9 and up. There are also programs for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. These can help them earn badges. Teachers and scout leaders can contact the museum for more details.

NSA Hall of Honor

The NSA Hall of Honor celebrates people who did amazing things for American cryptology. It started in 1999. The people honored here were true leaders. They were experts in their field. They also made huge contributions to how American cryptology works.