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Elizebeth Smith Friedman Was Born
On August 26th, 1892 Elizebeth Smith Friedman, a future hacker was born. -
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Elizebeth Smith Friedman Timeline - ESOC 210
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Moved To Chicago
Smith was one of two siblings who was able to go to collage, while her dad did not like the idea of her pursuing an education she was allowed to go as long as Elizebeth paid her dad back with six percent interest. In 1916 Smith moved to Chicago to pursue a career. She was unsuccessful but met w librarian who took notice of Smith and her interest in Shakespeare and offered to put Smith in contact with George Fabyan who was looking for an individual with knowledge of Shakespearean work. -
George Fabyan
George Fabyan took Smith to Geneva Illinois to explain to Smith what the job entailed. The National Woman’s History Museum said "Fabyan was determined to prove that there were secret messages in Shakespeare’s plays revealing that author Francis Bacon wrote them instead. Smith accomplished her first lesson in working with ciphers, where she used a magnifying glass to try to spot differences in the fonts." -
William Friedman
Smith met a man named William Friedman and brought him to join her team trying to decipher the Shakespearean codes. While getting closer during their work they also got closer romantically and got married in May of 1917. Elizebeth Smith now went by Elizebeth Friedman. They then worked together to decrypt every secret message sent to them by the navy. -
Moved And Gave Birth
Elizebeth and her husband moved to Washington DC to work for the Army Signal Corps but Elizebeth was paid much less then her husband and that led her to feel unappreciated at her job. In 1923 Elizebeth was discharged and took a break from coding and gave birth to her daughter in 1923, and her son soon following her daughter. -
Cost Guard Requested Elizebeth Back
In 1925 the Cost Guard requested Elizebeth to come back to work. The Woman’s History Museum said they needed her back due to "Illegal trafficking of alcohol during Prohibition created a massive black market for mobsters bringing supplies in by sea that the Coast Guard was not equipped to contain. Smith Friedman singlehandedly decrypted two years of messages the rumrunners had sent and figured out their plans, preventing further illegal activity." -
Official Cost Guard Code Breaking Unit
In 1931 the cost guard created their first ever code breaking unit, and it was run by Elizebeth Friedman. The Woman’s History Museum said "She became the key witness for many court cases to convict some of the most dangerous men in the world like, most famously, Al Capone." -
Unit Shift To Navy
Friedman was extremely busy juggling her career, taking care of her babys, and helping her husband who had a nervous break down from his code-breaking career with the Army. In 1941 Friedmans unit switched over from Coast Guard to the Navy which forced her to take a secondary position. She was assigned with monitoring communication between a Natzi spy ring and Germany. -
Friedman's Work Saves Thousands
In 1942, Friedman decoded messages that held the location of Allies biggest supply ship the Queen Mary. Friedman's abilities were able to save 8,000 men and an invaluable amount of supplies. Because of Friedman the US was eventually able to put an end to the spy ring. -
Friedmans Silence Till Death
During the War Elizebeth had to give her oath to silence until her passing. She had to watch as the current FBI director took credit for her and her teams work. In 1945 her unit was disbanded but Friedman kept codebreaking in her life by publishing a book further talking about the Shakespearian codes. -
Husbands Passing
Friedman took care of her ill husband until he passed in 1969. -
Until Friedman Passes
Friedman made it her lifes work to gather all her husbands work into a library until she passed in 1980. -
Passing of Elizebeth Friedman