From the 1960s to around 1990, a secret facility in the sub-basement of an academic hall at Western Maryland College (renamed McDaniel College in July 2002) provided space for the headquarters of the United States Office of Censorship, later renamed the Wartime Information Security Program (WISP).
According to David Wise, in his 1973 book The Politics of Lying, WISP had two missions to be carried out in the event of a nuclear war: censorship of American news media, and censorship of all communications entering and leaving the United States. An eight-member team at Western Maryland College facility, guided by the "Censorship Code", would supervise the activities of thousands of censors across the country.
An article in the March 9, 2000 edition of the Western Maryland College student newspaper, The Phoenix, describes the purpose and history of the facility.
Thanks to the Western Maryland College Office of Communications and Marketing for this information.
Updated on March 13, 2005 at 15:21 by Albert LaFrance