Radosh.net

I'm doing some research for The Week on the National Security Agency and I stumbled across what must be one of the spy agency's darkest secrets.

Buried on the NSA's official web site is a page on a "slave quilt" exhibit at the agency-run National Cryptologic Museum. In the course of acknowledging that there probably never was any such code, the agency lets slip a detail that could be devastating if it falls into the wrong hands. Emphasis added...

There is little or no present day historical evidence to support the theory of the "quilt codes". Most historians consider the stories involving the quilts to be more legend than fact. But there is some corroborating information, largely from oral traditions related by Tobin and Dobard that support the theory. At the time Tobin and Dobard published their book, NSA/CSS had a very active quilting club. Intrigued by the story, the members set about creating a sampler that incorporated the many symbols, and did so using 19th century quilting techniques.

Posted by Daniel Radosh

3:26 PM