Elizebeth Friedman Elizebeth Smith Friedman ( August 26 , 1892 – October 31 , 1980 ) was a cryptanalyst and author , and a pioneer in U . S . cryptography . She has been dubbed " America ' s first female cryptanalyst " . Although she is often referred to as the wife of William F . Friedman , a notable cryptographer credited with numerous contributions to cryptology , she enjoyed many successes in her own right , and it was Elizebeth who first introduced her husband to the field . Early life and education . Born in Huntington , Indiana to John M . Smith , a Quaker dairyman , banker , and politician , and Sopha Strock Smith , Elizebeth Friedman was the youngest of nine children . The unusual spelling of her name ( more commonly spelled " Elizabeth " ) is attributed to her mother , who disliked the prospect of Elizebeth ever being called " Eliza . " After briefly attending The College of Wooster in Ohio , she graduated from Hillsdale College in Michigan with a major in English literature and was also a member of Pi Beta Phi . Having exhibited her interest in languages , she had also studied Latin , Greek , and German , and minored " in a great many other things . " Only she and one other sibling were privileged to attend college . Work at Riverbank Laboratories . Elizebeth Friedman ( then Elizebeth Smith ) was interviewed by a librarian at Riverbank Laboratories , who then spoke with Colonel George Fabyan , who owned Riverbank . The librarian conveyed Smith ' s love for Shakespeare , among other things , to Fabyan . Fabyan , a wealthy textile merchant , soon met Friedman , and they discussed what life would be like at Riverbank , Fabyan ' s great estate located in Geneva , Illinois . He told her that she would assist a Boston woman , Elizabeth Wells Gallup and her sister with Gallup ' s attempt to prove that Sir Francis Bacon had written Shakespeare ' s plays and sonnets by decrypting enciphered messages that were supposed to have been contained within the plays and poems . At Riverbank Laboratories Friedman joined a versatile and distinguished staff . There were typists , translators , a graduate student in genetics , and professionals specializing in acoustics , engineering . Riverbank was one of the first such facilities in the US to seriously study cryptography and other subjects . Through the work of the Friedmans , much historical information on secret writing was gathered . Until the World War I creation of MI8 , the Army ' s Cipher Bureau , Riverbank was the only facility in the US seriously capable of solving enciphered messages . Military cryptography had been officially deemphasized after the Civil War . During World War I , several US Government departments asked Riverbank Labs for help or sent personnel for training . Among those was Agnes Meyer Driscoll who came on behalf of the Navy . Among the staff of fifteen at Riverbank was the man Elizebeth would marry in May 1917 : William F . Friedman . The couple worked together for the next four years or so in the only significant cryptographic facility in the country , save Herbert Yardley ' s ' Black Chamber ' . In 1921 Mr . and Mrs . Friedman left Riverbank to work for the War Department in Washington , D . C . Government service . Mrs . Friedman ' s employment as a cryptanalyst for the U . S . Navy followed in 1923 , which led to her subsequent positions with the U . S . Treasury Department ' s Bureaux of Prohibition and of Customs . Her career at both is quite significant and embraces cryptography against international smuggling and drug running in various parts of the world . The smugglers and runners resorted to encrypted radio messages to support their operations , presuming they would be able to communicate securely . This became a mistaken notion after Mrs . Friedman came to Washington . The Volstead Act of 1919 forbade the manufacture , sale , import , or export of intoxicating liquors . Prevailing conditions during those days , however , encouraged illegal activity . Further , as radio equipment became less cumbersome , less conspicuous , and more sophisticated , it afforded the criminal element another means to circumvent the law . To avoid taxes , etc . , criminals smuggled liquor and , to a lesser degree , narcotics , perfume , jewels , and even pinto beans . Related enciphered communications were passed by persistent anti - prohibitionists to protect their operations . Anti - prohibitionists provided Mrs . Friedman and her team of cryptanalysts with innumerable opportunities to hone their cryptanalytic / codebreaking skills during her employment with the U . S . Treasury Department . She led the cryptanalytic effort against international smuggling and drug - running radio and encoded messages , which the runners began to use extensively to conduct their operations . Even though early codes and ciphers were very basic , their subsequent increase in complexity and resistance to solution was important to the financial success and growth of their operations . The extent of sophistication seemed to pose little problem for Mrs . Friedman ; she still mounted successful attacks against both simple substitution and transposition ciphers , and the more complex enciphered codes which eventually came into use . While working for the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Foreign Control during the Prohibition era , she solved over 12 , 000 rum - runner s ' messages . Mrs . Friedman also perceived the need for a more dedicated effort against suspected communications . By 1931 she had convinced Congress of the need to create a headquartered , seven - man cryptanalytic section for this purpose . As her cryptanalytic responsibilities began to mount , Mrs . Friedman sensed the need to teach other analysts cryptanalytic fundamentals , including deciphering techniques . By relieving her of a part of the burden , this allowed her time to attack the more atypical new systems as they cropped up and expedited the entire process from initial analysis through to solution . It also allowed her to stay one step ahead of the smugglers . In addition to her cryptanalytic successes , she was often called to testify in cases against accused parties . The messages she deciphered or decoded enabled her to implicate several smugglers operating in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Pacific Coast . She subsequently testified in cases in Galveston and Houston , Texas , and New Orleans , Louisiana . Her efforts in 1933 resulted in convictions against thirty - five bootlegging ringleaders who were found to have violated the Volstead Act . Ringleaders were directly linked with suspected vessels as a result of the information arising out of her analysis . The next year she played a major role in settling a dispute between the Canadian and U . S . governments over the true ownership of the sailing vessel " I ' m Alone " . It was flying the Canadian flag when it was sunk by a U . S . Coast Guard cutter for failing to heed a " heave to and be searched " signal . The Canadian government filed a $ 350 , 000 suit against the U . S . , but the intelligence gleaned from the twenty - three messages decoded by Mrs . Friedman indicated " de facto " U . S . ownership just as the U . S . had originally suspected . As a consequence , the true owners of the ship were identified and most of the Canadian claim was dismissed . Obviously impressed with her work , the Canadian government sought Mrs . Friedman ' s help in 1937 with an opium dealer problem which evolved into an outstanding case . She complied and eventually testified in the trial of Gordon Lim and several other Chinese . Her solution to a complicated unknown Chinese enciphered code , in spite of her unfamiliarity with the language , was key to the successful convictions . Finally , Mrs . Friedman left her mark on the life of one of espionage ' s most notorious spies , Velvalee Dickinson , whose path to and role in espionage are noteworthy . Following high school and some college , Velvalee married the head of a brokerage firm that had Japanese - American clients . The Dickinson ' interest in Japan grew so much that they joined the Japanese - American Society , where they began to rub shoulders with members of the Japanese consulate . When the brokerage firm ' s success suffered a downturn , so too did the Dickinson ' role as proponents of good Japanese - American relations . At some point , the couple became spies for Japan . Velvalee became a major player , and her successful doll shop was a cover for her espionage . Known as the " Doll Woman , " she corresponded with Japanese agents using the names of women she found in her business correspondence . This would be her downfall . Her correspondence , which contained encoded material addressing significant naval vessel movement in Pearl Harbor , was analyzed and solved by Mrs . Friedman . This analysis resulted in a guilty verdict against Mrs . Dickinson . Although Mrs . Friedman worked closely with her husband as part of a team , many of her contributions to cryptology were unique . She deciphered many encoded messages throughout the Prohibition years and solved many notable cases singlehandedly , including some codes which were written in Mandarin Chinese . During World War II Mrs Friedman ' s Coast Guard unit was transferred to the Navy where they solved a difficult Enigma machine code used by German Naval Intelligence . After World War II , Mrs . Friedman became a consultant to and created communications security systems for the International Monetary Fund . Retirement . Longtime Shakespeare enthusiasts , Mrs . Friedman and her husband , after retirement from government service , collaborated on a manuscript entitled " The Cryptologist Looks at Shakespeare " , eventually published as " The Shakespearian ciphers examined " . It won awards from the Folger Shakespeare Library and the American Shakespeare Theater and Academy . In this book , the Friedmans dismissed Baconians such as Mrs . Gallup and Ignatius Donnelly with such technical proficiency and finesse that the book won far more acclaim than others addressing the same topic . The work that Gallup had done earlier for Col Fabyan at Riverbank operated on two assumptions . One was that Bacon invented a biliteral cipher and that the cipher used in the original printed Shakespeare folios employed " an odd variety of typefaces . " The Friedmans , however , " in a classic demonstration of their life ' s work , " buried a hidden Baconian cipher on a page in their publication . It was an italicized phrase which , using the different type faces , expressed their final assessment of the controversy : " I did not write the plays . F . Bacon . " Their book is regarded as the definitive work , if probably not the final word , on the subject . Following her husband ' s death in 1969 , Mrs . Friedman devoted much of retirement life to compiling a library and bibliography of his work . This " most extensive private collection of cryptographic material in the world " would finally be lodged in the George C . Marshall Research Library in Lexington , Virginia . " Our office doesn ' t make ' em , we only break ' em , " uttered Elizebeth Smith Friedman to a representative of a code - building company who came to sell his wares . And " break ' em " she did many times over for many years against many targets . Her successes led to the conviction of many violators of the Volstead Act during Prohibition years . Mrs . Friedman died on October 31 , 1980 in Plainfield , New Jersey , at the age of 88 . References . " This article is adapted from the Hall of Honor from the National Cryptologic Museum . "