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The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent US Government agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior US policymakers.

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CIA Museum

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History of CIA Museum

In 1972, William E. Colby, then the executive director of the Central Intelligence Agency, suggested the creation of an agency museum. He directed the agency’s components and its Fine Arts Commission to identify items of historical significance to create "a very selective accumulation of truly unique items."  When another building was added to the headquarters campus in the 1980s, a space was included for these items, and the office of the curator was established.

Since Colby’s first call, agency offices and officers have responded enthusiastically and offered a large number of artifacts, many from personal collections built up over long careers and from distant places. From its modest beginning, the CIA Museum is now the preeminent national archive for the collection, preservation, documentation and exhibition of intelligence artifacts, culture, and history.


Posted: Apr 21, 2007 07:32 PM
Last Updated: Jun 02, 2008 09:37 AM
Last Reviewed: May 29, 2008 03:02 PM