Mission

Every nation considers intelligence essential to its national security. The Museum lifts the veil of secrecy on the hidden world of intelligence, exploring its successes and failures, challenges, and controversies.

The Museum's mission is to educate the public about espionage and intelligence in an engaging way. It provides a context for understanding the important role intelligence has played in history and continues to play today.

As a nonprofit, the Museum aims to provide an objective and apolitical forum for exploring important topics such as the impact of secrecy on civil liberties, the changing role of technology in intelligence work, and the challenges of disinformation in a social media environment. 

Board of Directors

The Museum's Board of Directors includes highly respected professionals from the Intelligence Community, Government, Media, and the business community

Advisory & Honorary Boards

The Museum's Advisory and Honorary Boards includes former top-ranking members of the Intelligence Community and experts in the field

Leadership

Learn more about the International Spy Museum's Leadership Team

Community Initiatives

Strong community relationships help guide the Museum’s offerings and inspires diverse programming to local DC metropolitan community

Careers

Learn more about open positions at the Spy Museum

Collection Highlights

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The Aston Martin DB5 first appeared in the 1964 James Bond thriller Goldfinger. The ultimate spy car not only captured the public’s imagination, but inspired intelligence agencies to incorporate similar features into high security vehicles used in dangerous areas.

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For 50 years, the Minox was the essential spy camera. It could take 50 pictures without reloading, and its high resolution lens captured a remarkable amount of detail. John Walker, a U.S. naval officer who ran a KGB spy ring in the 1970s, used a Minox camera to document American military secrets. The camera is still made today, though not as widely used as it was during the Cold War.

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1960s-1970s, Romanian Secret Service (Securitate) Secretly obtaining an American diplomat’s shoes, the Romanians outfitted them with a hidden microphone and transmitter, thus enabling them to monitor the conversations of the unsuspecting target.

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This tiny, easy to hide microdot camera could photograph documents and produce microdots less than a millimeter in diameter. Reading them required special magnifying viewers.

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Hollow coins easily concealed microfilm and microdots. They were opened by inserting a needle into a tiny hole in the front of the coin.

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The lipstick pistol, used by KGB operatives during the Cold War, is a 4.5 mm, single shot weapon. It delivered the ultimate “kiss of death.”