The Archaeologist Was a Spy by Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler

I recently read The Archaeologist Was a Spy by Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003). It's a detailed exposition and discussion of Sylvanus Morley's espionage work during World War I. I think I knew previously that he was one of those denounced for spying by Franz Boas in his famous letter to The Nation after the war. But I did not know how central the role that he played was in not only in the spying itself but also in setting up the entire network of spies. I also knew nothing about the object of the espionage or its significance. As it turns out, the historians who wrote the book showed that Morley played a pivotal role in identifying and recruiting others, particularly archaeologists, into the network, which was run out the Office of Naval Intelligence. In those years, German U-boats threatened not only United States shipping and even our ports and coastal towns, but also the vital military links between the US and its European allies. The possibility that German U-boats could refuel and re-arm in nearby waters was a grave concern because it would have multiplied their effectiveness. Morley's primary task was to survey the Atlantic coast of Mexico and Central America to determine where it was physically--bathymetrically--possible for the U-boats to put in to ports, bays or inlets (preferably undetected) and resupply themselves. He was also on the lookout for German activities ashore that might indicate the willingness or ability to assist such a mission. I was surprised to learn that he was one of the dominant actors in such a key drama.

A couple of warnings. First, there is exceedingly little archaeology in the book. It's not a biography of Morley as much as it is a history of American espionage. Second, toward the end, the authors celebrate Boas's censure, and by implication the vindication of their protagonists, by the American Anthropological Association. But it's not clear to me what they are really saying. That American scientists ought to spy using their profession as a cover? That it's patriotic to do so? That we can do so with a clear conscience because we can assume that foreign scientists (or perhaps American ones) are spying on us? What about the argument that spying by some puts us all under suspicion? This not just theoretical for me. I have worked in countries that are not America's best friends, and who therefore would reasonably be on the lookout for American spies. Not only am I an archaeologist, but I worked for the Navy for a time. Worst of all I went to Yale, the great hothouse in which American has long propagated her budding spies. None of that means that I'm a spy, and in fact I'm not, but I don't want to have convince an interrogator of that.