Podcast #72 - International Spy Museum and Peter Earnest

Hello. On a recent trip to Washington DC I stopped by the International Spy Museum for a visit. I had never been to this recently opened museum - it has been open for 5 years - but had read many glowing comments about it. It is an amazing museum with numerous educational opportunities for teachers and students. I sat down with Peter Earnest, the International Spy Museum Executive Director, and dicussed the museum and it's educational connections.

I have read several books over the past year about Washington and his use of spies in the American Revolutionary War. The museum has some great learning opportunities in exploring the use of spies in the Revolution. The museum is full of amazing artifacts but my favorite was an original letter from George Washington authorizing a spy in New York during the war. A picture of this artifact can be seen above this paragraph and it is also mentioned by Mr. Earnest in the podcast. This artifact is only on display for 2 months a year because of it's fragile state. It is currently on display at the museum until around the start of April 2007.

If you are brining a group of students to Washington DC I would highly reccommend a trip to the International Spy Museum. If you can't make it in person the museum has some great curriculum guides available on the education portion of their web site with PDF files you can download and use with your students. There is also a SpyCast from the museum with spy related podcasts.

Special thanks to Peter Earnest for taking time from his busy schedule to visit with me and to Amanda Abrell who arranged the interview and in providing additional information about the museum.

If you have any comments or questions you can either post a comment to this blog entry or you can send me an e-mail at speakingofhistory@gmail.com

You can subscribe directly to the Speaking of History Podcast through i-Tunes here.

Direct link to Podcast #72 - International Spy Museum and Interview with Museum Executive Director Peter Earnest - MP3 file - 20:00 minutes

Podcast #72 Show Notes:

- International Spy Museum web site

- International Spy Museum Educational Resource Guides

- International Spy Museum SpyCast podcast