History Happy Hour with Archivist Sam Rushay and Historian Lee Lacy Cold War Espionage

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
Independence, MO

The Americans might be fictional but the true case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg seems straight out of the Cold War spy saga. After World War II, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was replaced by a new peacetime foreign intelligence organization that was independent of the military and eventually became known as the Central Intelligence Agency. The discovery that nuclear secrets had been stolen and turned over to the Soviet Union intensified suspicions and anxiety about the Soviet threat. Historian Lee Lacy and Archivist Sam Rushay will talk about the massive counterintelligence efforts President Truman’s administration undertook to root out foreign and domestic spies as the Cold War began and discuss details of the most famous couple accused of selling secrets to the Soviets. Free program, RSVPs capped at 75.