Smithsonian Sidedoor   /     The Milkmaid Spy

Summary

Virginia Hall dreamed of being America’s first female ambassador. Instead, she became a spy. Joining the ranks of the U.S.’s first civilian spy network, she operated alone in occupied France, where she built French Resistance networks, delivered critical intelligence, and sold cheese to the enemy. All on one leg. Guests: Sonia Purnell, author of “A Woman of No Importance: the Untold Story of the American Spy who Helped Win World War II.”  Randy Burkett, CIA Staff Historian Christina Gebhard, museum specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

Subtitle
Virginia Hall dreamed of being America’s first female ambassador. Instead, she became a spy.
Duration
28:55
Publishing date
2024-01-03 05:00
Link
https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_69_c964b653-693a-4ccf-9ee9-19af6144cce3&uf=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.si.edu%2FSmithsonianSidedoor
Contributors
  Smithsonian Institution
author  
Enclosures
https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/dovetail.prxu.org/_/69/c964b653-693a-4ccf-9ee9-19af6144cce3/V_Hall_RerunSeg1.mp3
audio/mpeg

Shownotes

Virginia Hall dreamed of being America’s first female ambassador. Instead, she became a spy. Joining the ranks of the U.S.’s first civilian spy network, she operated alone in occupied France, where she built French Resistance networks, delivered critical intelligence, and sold cheese to the enemy. All on one leg.

Guests:

Sonia Purnell, author of “A Woman of No Importance: the Untold Story of the American Spy who Helped Win World War II.” 

Randy Burkett, CIA Staff Historian

Christina Gebhard, museum specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History