#elizebeth friedman

[shakespearenews]

Richard III's Voice, the Federal Theatre Project, and Breakdancing Shakespeare

Plus: "Wherefore" still does not mean "where"

Very Yorkshire. There has been interest in Richard’s voice ever since he was dug up. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions and only note that he sounds much better without a sad violin behind him (skip to the end). The text is an English translation of a Latin letter making his son the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Chester. It’s bureaucracy, not heartbreak.

[in-the-stacks]

We discuss The Last Twelve Miles, our MyLibrarian June 2024 Book Club pick, with the author, Erika Robuck.

https://www.inthestacks.tv/2024/06/author-chat-the-last-twelve-miles

[wtf-fun-factss]

Cyptanalyst Elizebeth Friedman and her team broke ~4,000 codes during WWII and brought down a Nazi spy ring by cracking an early version of the Enigma machine with only pen and paper. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: How Codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman Fought Nazi Spies | American Experience | Official Site | PBS

[de-la-bibliotheque]

"For all the harmless innocence conjured by the word "library", the Friedmans knew the truth: a library, properly maintained, could save the world - or burn it down.

-Jason Fagone, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies

[shakespearenews]

Talking George Saunders and Shakespeare's Secrets With NYPL's Rare Book Librarian

BM: What is the weirdest/most memorable question you’ve gotten from a library patron?

MM: I’m lucky to work with collections that are rare or downright unique, and thus researchers with very specific, some might say ‘niche’ projects. Since I’m an avid crossword puzzler, I was very excited when David Kwong, a New York Times crossword constructor, wanted to take a look at our collection of material related to Riverbank Labs.

For context, an early 20th century Chicagoan named George Fabyan believed Sir Francis Bacon to be the author of Shakespeare’s works, and that Bacon had encoded proof of his authorship within the texts. Fabyan tasked the team at Riverbank with discovering a cipher system to decrypt these messages; two of his employees, Elizebeth and William Friedman, went on to legendary careers in cryptanalysis. We have Riverbank’s original letters, deciphering notes, student exercises, and the like, providing an intimate glimpse into their daily work. David was so taken with the collection and the story it represented that it informed his show The Enigmatist. (And he kindly agreed to this shout-out!)

[shakespearenews]

The Coast Guard’s Most Potent Weapon During Prohibition? Codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman

A pioneer of her time, Friedman was a crucial part of the fight to enforce the ban on booze

Before long, Elizebeth Smith was living at Riverbank Laboratory, an estate owned by Fabyan in Geneva, Illinois. It's where she also met her future husband, William Friedman, who worked for Riverbank as a geneticist. Both collaborated on a project that attempted to prove that Sir Francis Bacon, a cryptologist himself, had authored Shakespeare's plays ("Decoding the Renaissance," a current exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library, features the Friedman's scholarship on the topic.)

Within two years, Fabyan, a rich businessman with an outsized sense of his own self-worth, convinced the government to allow his team of cryptanalysts to specialize in decoding encryptions for the War Department.

[lindahall]

Elizebeth Smith Friedman – Scientist of the Day

Elizebeth Smith Friedman, an American cryptanalyst, was born Aug. 26, 1892.

read more...

[qupritsuvwix]

How Codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman Broke Up a Nazi Spy Ring

A new PBS documentary traces her extraordinary life, from her Quaker upbringing to her career as the U.S.' first female cryptanalyst

J. Edgar Hoover was an amateur.