Artifacts

CIA 25th Anniversary Program

Artifact Details

While serving as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), Richard Helms presided over the celebration of the Agency’s 25th anniversary on 18 September 1972. This is one of the programs from that milestone anniversary. It is a slender, hardbound booklet that lists the events of the ceremony. The program also lists all of the previous DCIs and Deputy DCIs and includes a brief history of the Agency and CIA-related quotes from several presidents. According to the program, the anniversary ceremonies began with the national anthem, followed by DCI Helms’s opening remarks. Henry Kissinger, then Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, gave the keynote address. DCI Helms, DDCI Vernon Walters, and Henry Kissinger all signed the program.

Also in 1972, William E. Colby, then the Executive Director of CIA, suggested the creation of an Agency museum. He directed the Agency’s components and its Fine Arts Commission to identify items of historical significance to create “a very selective accumulation of truly unique items.” The 25th anniversary program is currently held in Museum storage along with several unsigned softbound copies.