The Venona Project ran from 1937-1980 and stayed secret until 1995. It was initally begun by the Army Signal Intelligence Service until this division was absorbed by the National Security Agency during WWII. The CIA was made aware of the project in 1952.

Army Chief of Staff Omar Bradley decided not to inform President Truman of the project, only telling him about the intelligence and not how they were obtained.

The project discovered Soviet Agents in the UK and uncovered Soviet penetration of the US’s Manhattan Project, responsible for the development of the atomic bomb. Additionally, the project uncovered a number of Soviet agents within the US government. 

Decrypted messages suggest Laurence Duggan, an official in the State Department, had passed information to the Soviet Union in the 40’s. His case gained prominence when he fell to his death from his New York office ten days after being questioned by the FBI about whether he had communicate with Soviet Intelligence. It is believed he committed suicide and at the time of his death there was no evidence of his work with the Soviets. It was only after the Venona Project was declassified 47 years later that suggest the accusations had some truth behind them.

Archibald Macleish, Librarian of Congress and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote “The Black Day” in memory of Duggan.