CBS News – The International Spy Museum reopens, lifting veil of those “working in the shadows”

CBS News - The International Spy Museum reopens, lifting veil of those "working in the shadows"
CBS News – The International Spy Museum reopens, lifting veil of those “working in the shadows”

CBS NEWS

In 1777, Gen. George Washington established the country’s first spy network to take on the British during the Revolutionary War. That is where America’s spy story begins, but the $162 million International Spy Museum, in Washington, D.C., is re-imagining what spycraft looks like today.

Packed with nearly 10,000 artifacts and interactive exhibits, the 140,000-square-foot museum, which reopened to the public this weekend in a completely new space, is a completely new experience after a nearly three-year upgrade. Visitors (who are each assigned a cover identity) can explore exhibits that pull back the veil on the lives of international spies – like the so-called “Mata Hari,” a Dutch spy and exotic dancer.