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Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023 at 9 p.m. on KPBS 2 / Stream now with the PBS App. Discover the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst who helped bring down Al Capone and break up a Nazi spy ring in South America. Her work help lay the foundation for the National Security Agency (NSA).
"Elizebeth Friedman is someone you may never have heard of, but she had a tremendous influence on our country’s history,”“As a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field that she herself pioneered, she fought sexism throughout her career but, through sheer brilliance, was able to shape an amazing legacy — taking down mobsters and helping to win not one but two World Wars! We are excited to share her remarkable story with viewers.
”Born in 1892 into a Quaker family in small-town Indiana, Elizebeth dreamed of escape from an early age. Following graduation from college, she became a teacher but quickly tired of the job and traveled to Chicago searching for a new life. While there, she visited the Newberry Library to see a rare copy of Shakespeare’s 1623 “First Folio.”Noticing her interest in Shakespeare, the librarian insisted she meet a local millionaire industrialist who had a particular interest in the subject. Just hours after their meeting, George Fabyan whisked Elizebeth off to Riverbank, his massive 350-acre estate in Geneva, Illinois.Elizebeth S. Friedman with George Fabyan at Riverbank Laboratories in Geneva, Ill. 1916. At Riverbank, the eccentric Fabyan had established a vibrant community of scholars and scientists — part think tank, part laboratory. He assigned Elizebeth to one of his pet projects – trying to prove that the works of Shakespeare were written by Francis Bacon, who had supposedly inserted a secret code into the plays that confirmed his authorship. The job was tedious, but Elizebeth discovered she had a remarkable talent for decoding ciphers and recognizing patterns. She met William Friedman at Riverbank, a geneticist and amateur photographer who also pitched in on the project to photograph and enlarge the Shakespeare texts. Together they dug into Fabyan’s collection of codebreaking books, exchanging insights and ideas; they soon fell in love. They also concluded that Fabyan’s Shakespeare theory had no validity and was nothing but a pipe dream. They stole away from Riverbank, married, and planned to leave, but the advent of World War I changed their plans.In part, the first world war was unlike any before, because the invention of radio allowed the transmission of encrypted secret messages. Since the U.S. had no codebreaking agency, Fabyan saw an opportunity to help his country and enhance his fame, establishing America’s first codebreaking unit with Elizebeth and William in charge. Soon they were breaking codes for the War, Navy, State and Justice Departments, inventing their own methodology along the way. But six months into the war, the Army established its own Cypher Bureau. The Friedmans moved to Washington D.C., where William went to work for the Army Signal Corps and Elizebeth cared for their growing family.William F. Friedman and Elizebeth S. Friedman on the grounds of Riverbank Laboratories in Geneva, Illinois. 1917. In 1925, the Coast Guard unexpectedly called on Elizebeth. Prohibition had triggered an explosion of criminal activity, with rum runners taking to the seas to deliver bootleg liquor up and down the coasts using sophisticated codes on shortwave radios. Understanding the damage organized crime was inflicting on the nation, Elizebeth discovered how criminal syndicates ran their enterprises and became a crucial witness in a series of dramatic trials, taking down the operations of some of the most notorious gangsters in the country. Elizebeth’s work went beyond decrypting the messages. She weaponized the data she gathered to pioneer the development of strategic intelligence, establishing the model for today’s fusion centers.Her country called again in 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Now working for the Navy, Elizebeth and her team were assigned to monitor communications between a South American Nazi spy ring and the German high command. German U-boats were attacking Allied transport ships and by March of 1942, Nazi submarines had sunk more than a million tons of supplies and killed thousands of soldiers. Unraveling the encrypted messages, Elizebeth soon identified Hitler’s top spy in South America, Sargo, whose network was transmitting the Allied ship locations, including that of the Queen Mary, the Allies largest supply ship. Before the Nazis could strike, Elizebeth was able to warn the captain, who safely brought the ship to port.
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