The Black women codebreakers of the Cold War

The podcast introduces the largely overlooked role of Black women who served as cryptologists during the Cold War, decoding intercepted Soviet messages for the NSA and the U.S. Army. Host Flora Lichtman is joined by Dr. Sarah Valentine, author of 'Decoding the Devil', who discusses how she uncovered this hidden history through declassified documents and her own research. The segment sets the stage by highlighting the significance of these women’s contributions and the secrecy surrounding their work.

Dr. Valentine describes the environment at Arlington Hall’s secret campus, where the traffic processing division was located in a noisy, segregated basement. These mostly women cryptologists analyzed Soviet telecommunications in Cyrillic, searching for keywords related to military and nuclear research. Their work was manual, labor-intensive, and crucial, as they sifted through millions of messages weekly to find valuable intelligence, acting as the pre-computer 'Google' of their time.

The episode discusses how Black women were recruited into these roles primarily through word-of-mouth, often from friends or other government jobs. Despite being well-educated—many with college or master's degrees—they were initially limited to lower-level jobs due to segregation and racial barriers. Iris Carr’s story exemplifies a woman who rose from a Texas schoolteacher to a managerial role, illustrating both the opportunities and obstacles faced by these women.

The episode explains how these women were foundational to early computer development, functioning as the 'GPU' of their operations by manually processing vast amounts of data. As technology advanced, specifically with the development of machine learning programs like soap flakes, their manual tasks were automated, and many of these women’s roles became obsolete. Some briefly experienced opportunities in the emerging computer field, but racial and gender inequities often limited their advancement.

Dr. Valentine shares her investigative process, including declassifying and uncovering forgotten documents from the NSA and National Archives. A notable find was a handwritten letter signed by Eleanor Roosevelt, exemplifying the kind of rare artifacts she encountered. Her work highlights the importance of archival research in restoring these women's stories and contributing to a fuller understanding of Cold War history.

The podcast concludes with a reflection on translation as a form of codebreaking, drawing parallels between linguistic skills required by the codebreakers and literary translation. Dr. Valentine emphasizes the stress, trial, and error involved in both fields, underscoring the intellectual and emotional labor of these women who broke Soviet codes under extreme pressure.