Herbert O. Yardley revisited: what does the new evidence say?

Abstract

The story of Herbert O. Yardley by now is very well known: After his Cipher Bureau is abolished in 1929, he writes The American Black Chamber which appalls and offends intelligence professionals everywhere with its cryptologic content. Henceforth, he becomes a pariah in the cryptologic community, a stigma that he never completely overcomes. Against this backdrop, NSA in 2019 released 220+ documents about Yardley, some of which are probably new to the public. The author, in reviewing the material, addresses three major themes: (1) Yardley’s relationship with an early rival, William F. Friedman; (2) his attitudes and approaches toward technology and collection; and (3) his supposed employment with Japan. While unlikely to change anyone’s mind about Yardley, the new releases do indeed add nuance to the story of one of modern history’s most controversial cryptologists.

Keywords:

• David Kahn
• Herbert O. Yardley
• Prescott Currier
• The Broken Seal
• William Friedman

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gregory J. Nedved

Gregory J. Nedved has been a historian at the Center for Cryptologic History since 2011, with a specialty in China. Prior to this, he had spent much of his professional career (military and government) working with the Chinese language in various capacities, such as linguist, translator, and instructor. Nedved also has extensive experience with museums. He has been president of the National Museum of Language in College Park, MD, since 2018 and has served for many years as a weekend docent at the National Cryptologic Museum at Fort Meade, MD. Nedved has a BA from Saint Vincent College (Latrobe, PA) and an MA from Hawaii Pacific University. He is also a graduate of the Naval War College Fleet Seminar Program and has a Certificate in Advanced Translation (Chinese) from the University of Chicago. He is the author of many books and periodicals with topics as diverse as flags to presidential foreign language trivia.