Center for the Study of Intelligence, header

CSI Timeline 1940 - 1960German Enigma Enciphering Machine WWIISpecial Forces' Wings WWIIVirginia Hall's Suitcase Radio WWIIOSS Early Time StampOn the Front Lines of the Cold War: Documents on the Intelligence War in Berlin, 1946 to 1961Venona: Soviet Espionage and the American Response, 1939 - 1959The CIA Under TrumanSelected Estimates on the Soviet Union 1950 - 1959Sign, North Building, Original CIA Headquarters, 2430 E. Street, Washington D.C.Air America CapPneumatic Tube System Original Headquarters BuildingCorona: America's First Satellite Program 1960The CIA and the U2 Program, 1954 - 1974
CSI Timeline 1970 - 2000At Cold War's End: US Intelligence on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe 1989 - 1991Studies in IntelligencePsychology of Intelligence Analysis by Richard J Heuer, Jr. 1999Sculpture, The Day The Wall Came Down 1991 by Veryl Goodnight, Berlin, GermanyHelmet, Iraqi MilitaryCaltrop Tire SpikeCanteen, Iraqi MilitaryIntentions and Capabilities: Estimates on Soviet Strategic Forces, 1950 - 1983Soviet Infrared Night Vision DeviceMinox Model B CameraWinter Hat, Soviet MilitaryPsychology of Intelligence AnalysisStudies in Intelligence

Founded in 1974, and now part of the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, the Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) promotes understanding of the craft of intelligence and how CIA practices that craft; conducts research and publishes journals, books, monographs, newsletters, and conference volumes on intelligence topics; hosts conferences and symposia both at home and abroad; and coordinates academic outreach programs. CSI includes the CIA History Staff, the CIA Exhibit Center, and maintains the Historical Intelligence Collection in the CIA Library.

Conferences and Seminars
CSI sponsors conferences with American colleges and universities, the US intelligence community, professional and military colleges, corporate America, museums, professional intelligence schools, and other Agency components. Such events provide a forum for practitioners and scholars to make intelligence research widely available, commemorate major historical intelligence subjects, and provide CIA officers the opportunity to interact with academic specialists.

Research and Publications
CSI produces Studies in Intelligence, which since 1955 has covered historical, operational, doctrinal, and theoretical aspects of the practice of intelligence. Published quarterly in a classified version, and semi-annually in an unclassified edition, its editorial board presents the annual Sherman Kent Awards-which include monetary prizes for outstanding articles each year. A new annual award will recognize the best graduate student paper published in Studies. The Publications Staff also produces monographs and books.

CIA History Staff
The CIA History Staff, founded in 1951, became part of CSI in 1992. It employs professionally trained historians who have gained international recognition for expertise on historical intelligence issues. Staff historians write classified and unclassified histories, edit collections of declassified documents for public symposia, lecture to classes at US universities as well as Agency training courses, and serve as an internal CIA and Intelligence Community reference service.

Staff historians work closely with historians, archivists, and records managers in CIA and other federal agencies. The Department of State remains the foremost customer of the Staff's knowledge of Agency records needed for the compilation of the Foreign Relations of the United States series, the preeminent documentary history of American diplomacy. The CIA History Staff also advises on the identification and declassification of historically significant records and collections.

CSI Sponsorship of Academic Programs
CSI is a resource to encourage and improve the teaching of intelligence in American colleges and universities. Through CSI's Officer-in-Residence Program, CIA officers teach intelligence-related courses and conduct research at US colleges or universities during two-year tours as visiting professors. CSI also promotes broader understanding of intelligence roles and missions, as well as closer collaboration with the academic community.

Exhibit Center
CSI maintains two important collections of historical intelligence artifacts. The CIA Exhibit Center contains personal memorabilia from Major General William J. Donovan, the founder of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS); examples of OSS equipment; and a German "Enigma" enciphering machine from World War II. In collaboration with collector and historian H. Keith Melton, "The Cold War: Fifty Years of Silent Conflict" showcases some of the 6000 clandestine espionage artifacts from the United States, the former Soviet Union, and East Germany, which comprise the world's largest collection of spy gear.
Welbike, British Special Operations Executive, WWII; Collection of H. Keith Melton
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U-2 Pressure Suit and Helmet, ca. 1955

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