“Two Decades at the International Spy Museum” – with Anna Slafer

Summary
Anna Slafer (LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/annaslafer), Website (annaslafercreative.com)) joins Andrew (X (twitter.com/spyhistorian); LinkedIn) (linkedin.com/in/andrew-hammond-09344936) to discuss the history of the International Spy Museum. Anna was one of SPY’s first employees when the museum opened in 2002.

What You’ll Learn
Intelligence

• Building the International Spy Museum

• Milton Maltz: the visionary behind SPY

• The role of historians and curators

• Creating exhibits on espionage

Reflections

• Institutional memory and evolution

• The challenges and joys of storytelling

And much, much more …

Quotes of the Week
“We structured the museum so people could understand: How does [spying] work? Who does it? What is my role? And we wanted to look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.” – Anna Slafer.

Resources
SURFACE SKIM
*SpyCasts*

•
The World’s Preeminent Collection of SPY Artifacts (thecyberwire.com/podcasts/spycast/638/transcript) with Laura Hicken and Lauren VonBechmann (2024)

•
Secrets Revealed (thecyberwire.com/podcasts/spycast/580/notes) – Curators Alexis and Andrew on SPY’s Pop-Up Exhibit (2023)

•
Peter Earnest Memorial: Spook, CIA Spokesman, Spy Museum Director (thecyberwire.com/podcasts/spycast/539/transcript) (2022)

*Beginner Resources*

•
A look at the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. (youtube.com/watch?v=JQfaSg-8OiE), FOX 5 Washington DC, YouTube (2023) [5 min. video]

•
About the Collection (spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/about-the…), International Spy Museum (n.d.) [Short article]

•
About Museums (aam-us.org/programs/about-museums), American Alliance of Museums (n.d.) [Short Q&A]

DEEPER DIVE
Articles

•
Cracking the Spy Museum Code to Revitalize Stale Learning (medium.com/@thequickstartcreative/cracking-the…), J. A. Manning, Medium (2023)

•
A Reimagined Spy Museum in Washington Doesn’t Flinch From the Darker Side (nytimes.com/2019/05/06/arts/design/spy-museum-…), S. Shane, The New York Times (2019)

•
From For-Profit to Nonprofit: Evolution of the International Spy Museum (aam-us.org/2019/11/04/from-for-profit-to-nonpr…), E. Merritt, American Alliance of Museums (2019)

•
Spy Museum salutes '50 years of Bond Villains,' (post-gazette.com/life/travel/2012/11/25/Spy-Mu…) T. Wells, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2012)

•
Role of museums in managing design education: a case study (ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/eta/2009/…), H. Lee, International Journal of Education Through Art (2009)

•
Museum visitors hit the D.C. streets in spy game (seattletimes.com/life/travel/museum-visitors-h…), B. Zongker, Seattle Times (2009)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Museums have been a critical element of community building and historical memory for centuries.

• One of the world’s first curators was a woman named Ennigaldi-Nanna (mymodernmet.com/ennigaldi-nanna-founded-the-fi…) from modern day Iraq. Dating from 530 B.C., Ennigaldi-Nanna’s museum of Mesopotamian artifacts is thought to be the world’s oldest museum (museu.ms/highlight/details/105317/the-worlds-o…).