Virginia Dare Aderholdt
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Virginia Dare Aderholdt was an Arlington Hall cryptanalyst and Japanese translator. She decrypted the intercepted Japanese surrender message at the close of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
on August 14, 1945.


Early years

Virginia Aderholdt was the daughter of Oscar Wrey Aderholdt, a Lutheran clergyman, and Genolia Ethel Powlas. As a twelve-year-old student, Aderholdt took third place in a state spelling competition. Aderholdt graduated with honors from Wyandotte High School in
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. She later studied at Mitchell Community College and Lenoir–Rhyne University in
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, and Bethany College in
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, and
Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...
in
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. Aderholdt also studied at the Biblical Seminary in New York and the Tokyo School of Japanese Language and Culture in Tokyo. A grade school teacher, Aderholdt taught at the Kansas State School for the Blind. She spent four years in Japan.


Cryptanalyst

During World War II, Aderholdt worked at
Arlington Hall Arlington Hall (also called Arlington Hall Station) is a historic building in Arlington, Virginia. Originally it was a girls' school and later the headquarters of the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) cryptography operations ...
decrypting and translating Japanese messages, particularly those in an older diplomatic code, JAH. Because she was fluent in Japanese, she could decrypt and translate simultaneously. At noon, August 14, 1945, Arlington Hall received an intercept in JAH from Tokyo to the Japanese Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, announcing the Japanese surrender. Aderholdt decrypted and translated the message, which was sent in Japanese and English. The decrypt was telephoned to military intelligence, and at 7 p.m. that evening, President
Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
announced the surrender. The war was over.


Later years

Aderholdt was the only musical missionary sent to Japan by the United Lutheran Church in America. She worked for ten years in Japan as a musical training teacher at the Shokei College School for Girls at
Kumamoto is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a populat ...
, Japan. In November 1957 she delivered a talk on her work at United Lutheran Church, Langley Park, Maryland.Evening Star Saturday, Nov 16, 1957 Washington (DC), Page: 7 She was married twice: first to Paul Wehrmeister McDole, a music teacher, and later to Aksel Christian Larsen, a Lutheran minister. She died of pancreatic cancer in 1997.


See also

* Code Girls


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aderholdt, Virginia 1910 births 1997 deaths American cryptographers Signals Intelligence Service cryptographers American Japanologists Bethany College (West Virginia) alumni Lenoir–Rhyne University alumni American women cryptographers 20th-century cryptographers