Artifact Details
The CIA celebrated the construction of its new Headquarters building at Langley, Virginia, with a cornerstone-laying ceremony on 3 November 1959. President Dwight D. Eisenhower used this trowel to lay the cornerstone. Construction of the 1.3-million-square-foot facility was completed in late 1961.
Select documents and other materials of historic interest are sealed within the cornerstone. Items include:
- A 1944 memorandum from William J. Donovan to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The memo discussed the need to establish a permanent centralized intelligence service.
- President Harry S. Truman’s 1946 Executive Letter that established the National Intelligence Authority and the Central Intelligence Group.
- An aerial photograph of the CIA building site.
Artifact Specs
27.8 cm x 7.2 cm x 5.5 cm
(L x W x H)