FROM THE BARNARD ARCHIVES
From A Secret Wartime Cryptography Class at Barnard to Code-Breaking During Second World War, Mary Jane Heyl, Class of '42, Awarded Bronze Star for International Service
Mary Jane Heyl '42, ca. 1941. From The Mortarboard 1942, p. 81. Credit: Barnard College Archives
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On her application to Barnard dated May 7, 1938, seventeen-year-old Mary Jane Heyl wrote that she aspired to a career in government, especially diplomacy. "There is something exhilarating about working behind the scenes in world events," wrote the Milwaukee-born girl who would become a cryptographer and decode enemy messages during the Second World War, earning the Bronze Star for her work.
This past January, when The Washington Post reported her death at the age of 84, the obituary identified her as "a foreign aid administrator and lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve," citing her many international achievements.
During the Second World War, Heyl worked as a cryptographic officer with the Woman's Army Corps (WAC). Later, she served as a military and civil affairs officer with the Allied Forces throughout Europe and Africa.
As a young woman attending St. Scholastica High School in Chicago, Heyl was serious about the contribution she wanted to make. In her application letter to Barnard, she wrote that she was not coming to college merely for "an exhilarating good time" or to "add to my financial worth in the business world." She wanted an education that would enable her "to view the events which take place in the world with an intelligent outlook." She was determined to become a "worthy citizen who strives to build and not destroy."
Mary Jane Heyl '42, 1938. Credit: Barnard College Archives
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Heyl dove into extracurricular activities, serving as president of the International Relations Club, assistant editor of the Mortarboard yearbook and delegate at large for the Political Council, among other activities.
During college, she worked at part-time jobs to support herself, including sales jobs at Macy's ($3.00 a day) and Lord and Taylor ($3.25 a day). She volunteered as a lecturer and guide at the League of Nations Pavilion during New York's World Fair in 1939, and for the New York Legislative Service in the summer of 1941, where her coordinator called her "one of the best we have ever had."
During her senior year, she enrolled in a course that set the direction of her life -- a course so secret even her transcripts disguised it.
Consistent with many women's colleges at the time, Barnard was approached by the U.S. military to offer secret courses for wartime training. Dean Virginia C. Gildersleeve wrote in her 1954 memoir, Many a Good Crusade : "Sometimes I suspect that one small project, never publicized and known to only a very few people, contributed more to winning the war than all the other work which Barnard undertook. It was carried out by our little Department of Mathematics . . . a cryptography course of a highly secret nature to train a few of our best seniors to work on codes. "
Faculty selected students like Heyl who were "bright, active, close-mouthed, and congenial." Each was required to fill out a personal history statement, take a secrecy oath, and identify the class only as a "Naval Communications Course." The course syllabus was considered restricted information. Students were informed that, "although you are studying cryptanalysis, we cannot allow this to be generally known, nor ever published under any conditions. 'Cryptanalysis,' 'intelligence' or 'security' are words which must not be used outside of your own study group. Do not let them leak into any newspapers or publications of any kind."
Mary Jane Heyl '42 seated at desk with pile of envelopes, ca. 1941. From The Mortarboard 1942, p. 81. Credit: Barnard College Archives
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Gildersleeve wrote: "The agreement was that we should never speak about this course, never let anyone know that we were conducting it. The Department of Mathematics turned out a number of young women trained in this highly special field who then went into uniform and devoted themselves to secret work. Sometimes when I heard through inside sources that an enemy code had been broken, I wondered." Heyl's transcripts show she earned her highest grades her final year, especially in government courses. Having majored in government and international relations, she received her A.B. in June 1942 and received a Master of International Affairs from Columbia a year later. Then, she enlisted in the WAC, and was assigned to Allied Force Headquarters (AFH) in Algiers as a Cryptographic Security Officer. When AFH moved to Italy and eventually Germany, she became a Military Liaison Officer.
By 1946, Heyl had earned the rank of Captain and was awarded the "Bronze Star, Cross of Knight, Order of Crown of Italy" for her cryptographic efforts. She spent a year at Oxford University and continued her intelligence work, first as a trade and development officer for the Economic Cooperation Administration, then for the International Cooperation Administration in Paris and Copenhagen as part of the Marshall Plan to help rebuild Europe. She began working for the U.S. government in 1948, returned to Washington in 1950 and worked on the Turkey and Philippines desks at the Agency for International Development (AID).
Her interests in helping others understand world events led her to write articles for international journals and join the lecture circuit. "Is Foreign Aid Good Advertising for America?" was her topic when she spoke in Dallas, Texas, to the Advertising League where her father was a member. Her final assignment before she retired in 1980 was as coordinator of the economic support fund for AID.
Her death in January 2005 ended what was undoubtedly the "exhilarating" life she'd hoped for -- one of secretive, though essential, government service.
—Jo Kadlecek
Sources:
Barnard College Archives:
Mortarboard Yearbook1942.
Naval Communications Course--Syllabus Introduction for Students, (10-1-1941).
Naval Communications Course--Guide for Instructors, (10-1-1941).
Barnard Office of the Registrar:
Transcripts/Application Folder for Mary Jane Heyl.
Gildersleeve, Virginia C., "Many a Good Crusade." (New York: MacMillian Company, 1954). P. 264.
Obituary, " Mary Jane Heyl Foreign Aid Administrator," The Washington Post, Saturday, February 19, 2005; Page B06
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