ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

International Spy Museum, Washington, DC

Updated on January 22, 2015
Daisy Mariposa profile image

Daisy Mariposa, a travel agent for several years, has occupational certificates in Travel Management and International Business.

What better time to photograph the International Spy Museum than at night? Kmf164 photographed the building on January 11, 2006.
What better time to photograph the International Spy Museum than at night? Kmf164 photographed the building on January 11, 2006. | Source

What is espionage (spying)?

Espionage (spying) is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information without the knowledge of the person in possession of, or responsible for, that information. It is a type of intelligence gathering done in a clandestine or secret manner by an individual or a government.

The International Spy Museum in Washington, DC is the only museum in the United States dedicated solely to espionage. The museum presents worldwide information about spying in a non-judgmental, apolitical manner, and doesn't focus upon any one country's point of view or ideology.

Kmf164 took this photograph of the International Spy Museum's sign on January 11, 2006.
Kmf164 took this photograph of the International Spy Museum's sign on January 11, 2006. | Source

Brief History of Spying (Espionage)

The recorded history of espionage (spying) can be traced to both ancient China and ancient India. The writing of military strategists Sun-Tzu (circa 476 to 221 BC) from China and Chanyaka (circa 370 to 283 BC) from India both contain information about subversion and deception. The writing of Chandragupta Maurya, Chanyaka’s pupil, discusses the use of secret agents. The Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans all used spies. The Mongols used spies in the 13th and 14th centuries. Ninja were used as spies in feudal Japan.

In more modern times, the former Soviet Union preferred using people as spies, and the United States relied on technology.

The two videos which follow will give you an idea of what the International Spy Museum contains.

A
International Spy Museum:
International Spy Museum, 800 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004

get directions

The International Spy Museum's Mission

The International Spy Museum's mission is to provide a non-judgmental global perspective on espionage, to educate the public about the importance of espionage’s role in world history.

The museum —located in downtown Washington, DC on F Street, NW (northwest)—is one of the few museums in Washington, DC which charges an entrance fee. The reason for there being a fee is that it is a private museum, not affiliated with any United States or foreign government agency or organization. The museum neither receives any government funding nor any money from tax revenue.

Visitor
Entrance Fee
Ages 12 to 64
$19.95
Age 65 and older, Military, Law Enforcement
$15.95
Ages 7 to 11
$14.94
Age 6 and younger
Free
Museum members
Free

Open daily 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

800 F Street, NW
Washington, DC
20004

Phone: 202.EYE.SPYU
E-Mail: info@spymuseum.org

Exhibits

The International Spy Museum, in development for more than seven years before it opened on July 19, 2002, does not permit any type of cameras in the exhibit areas—neither still nor video. Many of the artifacts exhibited in the museum are on loan, and images cannot be produced without the permission of the object's owner.

I went to the TripAdvisor Web site to read reviews of the museum which visitors had posted. I wanted to learn which artifacts and exhibits visitors had enjoyed the most.

Many people mentioned the lipstick pistol. This was an item apparently used by KGB— Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security)—espionage agents from the former Soviet Union in the 1960s. It’s a single-shot pistol which looks like a tube of lipstick.

Many people also mentioned the pigeon camera. During World War I, cameras were attached to carrier pigeons. The pigeons were released over enemy territory, and the cameras snapped images continuously. When the pigeons reached their destinations, the film was developed and the images interpreted.

An exhibit which opened in 2012—which will remain open until 2014—is Exquisitely Evil: 50 Years of Bond Villains. Some of the museum's artifacts associated with James Bond are Jaws’ teeth from The Spy Who Loved Me, Goldfinger’s golf shoes, the Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger, Zao’s Jaguar XKR from Die Another Day, and Silva's laptop from Skyfall.

Have you ever visited Washington, DC?

See results

Is the International Spy Museum a museum you would like to visit?

See results

More about James Bond

Mohan Kumar, who publishes articles for HubPages using the name Docmo, has written two articles commemorating the 50 years of James Bond films.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)