Air Date: Thursday, August 21, 2025

• Born: 1818 to prosperous Richmond family with Northern roots
• Father: John Van Lew, hardware businessman who moved from New York to Virginia
• Education: Attended Quaker school in Philadelphia, exposed to abolitionist ideas
• Family transformation: After father's death (1843), convinced mother to free family's enslaved workers
• Pre-war status: Wealthy but socially isolated due to anti-slavery views

• Initial motivation: Unionist sympathies during Virginia's secession (April 1861)
• Early activities: Flew Union flag until threatened, then sought covert ways to aid Union
• Humanitarian cover: Began visiting Union prisoners at Libby Prison with food, medicine, books
• Evolution: Prison visits became cover for intelligence gathering and escape operations

• Network building: Recruited dozens of agents including free/enslaved African Americans, Union sympathizers, disaffected Confederates
• Key operative: Mary Elizabeth Bowser - educated formerly enslaved woman placed in Jefferson Davis's household
• Tradecraft innovations:
• Cipher system for encoding messages
• Invisible ink made from ferric sulfate
• Hollow egg shells for message concealment
• Messages hidden in farm baskets carried by servants
• Cover identity: "Crazy Bet" persona - appeared disheveled, talked to herself, acted eccentrically

• Libby Prison breakout: February 1864 - concealed escapees from largest prison break of the war (109 Union officers)
• Intelligence gathering: Provided detailed reports on Confederate troop movements, fortifications, strategic decisions
• Communication network: Established direct contact with Union General Benjamin Butler
• Strategic intelligence: Critical information during Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign

• General Butler's assessment: "The greater portion of my information came from a lady whom I never saw... This lady was Miss Van Lew"
• Grant's praise: "For her loyalty and devotion to the cause of the Union, she is entitled to the gratitude of all Americans"
• Location advantage: Mansion on Church Hill provided observation post for troop movements
• Final service: Secured Confederate government records when Richmond fell

• Social isolation: Shunned by Richmond neighbors as traitor
• Financial struggles: Personal fortune spent on espionage activities, little government compensation
• Political appointment: Postmaster of Richmond (1869) under President Grant
• Loss of position: Removed when conservative Democrats regained control
• Final years: Lived in poverty, selling possessions to survive
• Death: September 25, 1900, largely forgotten and unrecognized

• Sophisticated tradecraft: Cover identities, encryption, cell structure
• Modern relevance: Methods studied by contemporary intelligence professionals
• Strategic...