Department of History and American Studies & Department of Mathematics
An Accidental Cryptologist: Genevieve Young Hitt
the U.S. Government’s First Female Cryptologist
presented by
Betsy Rohaly Smoot
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
5:00 PM
116 Monroe Hall
Genevieve Young Hitt, wife of U.S. Army Colonel Parker Hitt, was the first woman to break codes and ciphers for the U.S. government. She first worked on an unpaid basis during Pershing’s Punitive Expedition, and then as a paid government employee at Fort Sam Houston during World War I. Recently discovered letters and government records shed light on this remarkable woman, her brief career and her interesting life.
Betsy Rohaly Smoot is a historian at the National Security Agency’s Center for Cryptologic History. She is a member of the Class of 1982 and majored in Geography and Economics while at Mary Washington.
