Civil War: Herbert O. Yardley

Wabash Valley profiles : a series of tributes to hometown people and events that have shaped our history

Description:	One typed page including photograph; biography of Herbert Osborn Yardley, the most colorful and controversial figure in American intelligence. ABASH VALLEY WP R O F I L E SA series of tributes to hometown heroes who have made a difference.Herbert O.Yardleynative of Greene County, Indiana, Herbert Osborn Yardley has been referred to as the most colorful and controversial figure in American intelligence. The son of Robert Kirkbride and Mary Emma (Osborn), Yardley was born April 13, 1889, on West Union St. in Worthington, Ind. His father was station agent and telegrapher for the Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad. Young Yardley gained a reputation in grade school as the smartest boy in the county. When his mother died unexpectedly on Feb. 9, 1902, 12-year-old Herb became rebellious, behavior that was curbed somewhat when he began mastering poker in back rooms of Worthingtons saloons. The quarterback and captain of the high school football team, he also played baseball. Charismatic, he was president of his senior class in 1907. However, late that year he was expelled for participating in a prank and fulfilled graduation requirements in Eaton Rapids, Mich. Upon earning a diploma, Herb became a railroad telegrapher, working at several Indiana depots including those in Terre Haute and Indianapolis. Yardley passed a civil service examination to become a government telegrapher with the Department of State in Washington, D.C. and was sworn in Dec. 23, 1912. Meanwhile, he proposed marriage to petite Hazel Milam, Worthingtons first librarian and daughter of an important businessman and civic leader. The couple wed May 20, 1914. Their only child Jack was born in 1925. Though he enrolled in correspondence courses at the University of Chicago, his work introduced him to cryptology and cipher, which became his passions. After reading every Library of Congress book on those topics, he began analyzing encrypted government communications. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, Yardley persuaded his superiors to allow him to establish Americas first codebreaking organization, the Cipher Bureau, Military Intelligence 8 (MI-8), popularly known as The Black Chamber. As a result of his work deciphering Japanese dispatches during the 1921 Washington Naval Armaments Conference, Yardley was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the War Departments highest non-combatant honor, on Dec. 30, 1922. Two days after the 1929 stock market crash, President Herbert Hoovers Secretary of State Henry L. Stinson abolished the Cipher Bureau, declaring it was unethical to read other Gentlemens mail. Desperate for income, Yardley went on the lecture circuit, published Yardleygrams (cipher puzzles) in Liberty magazine and in 1931 wrote The American Black Chamber, revealing secrets of his defunct agency. The book was a bestseller but deemed treasonous, making him unwelcome in U.S. intelligence circles. A sequel book, Japanese Diplomatic Secrets, was banned by the government. Over the next three decades, Yardley embellished his reputation as a drinker, gambler and womanizer, assisted China and Canada in codebreaking efforts during World War II and wrote fiction, including the novels The Blond Countess, Crows Are Black Everywhere and Red Sun of Nippon. In September 1937 Hazel returned to Worthington to work at the library. They were divorced Aug. 28, 1944, the same day Herb wed Edna Ramsaier, a former clerk at the Cipher Bureau. In 1957 Yardley published The Education of a Poker Player, an autobiography. He died Aug. 7, 1958, and is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery. A compelling biography by David Kahn, The Reader of Gentlemens Mail: Herbert O. Yardley and the Birth of American Codebreaking, was published in 2004.AAlways Close to Home812-238-6000EQUAL HOUSING LENDER MEMBER FDICFREE ISU Baseball TicketsISU vs. Evansville Friday, May 20 7 p.m. FIRST will be there with FREE hot dogs and soft drinksTickets available on a first-come, first-served basis at Meadows, West Terre Haute, Plaza North, Springhill and Main banking centers.File name: Herbert O. Yardley profileDate Published: May 19, 2005
Origin:	2005-05-22
Created By:	McCormick, Mike
Publisher:	Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/vchs/id/654
Collection:	Vigo County Historical Society
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Yardley, Herbert O. (Herbert Osborn), 1889-1958 Telegraph industry Cryptography Cipher and telegraph codes Spying Spies Politics People Wars & Conflicts

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