WACO Lecture Series

WACO Lecture Series opens with “A 50 Year Top-Secret Project.”

Thursday, September 19, 2019–doors open at 6:30 p.m., speech at 7 p.m.

WACO Historical Society • Aviation Lecture Series

WACO Air Museum, 1865 South County Road 25A, Troy, Ohio 45373

Jim Charters, local historian and actor, opens the WACO Aviation Lecture Series with a presentation of the enigma code.  Doors will open at 6:30pm and the presentation will begin at 7 pm on Thursday night, September 19th in the Willis Wing at WACO Air Museum in Troy, OH.

As early as 1938, Daytonian Edward Deeds, owner of National Cash Register Company (NCR), wanted to experiment with the electronics and hardware used by NCR.   He hired Joseph Desch to start NCR’s Electrical Research Lab.  The U.S. Navy eventually contracted with the lab to manufacture a machine to read encrypted messages created by and sent from the German Navy’s enigma machine. Learn how this project was kept a secret for over 50 years!

Speaker Jim Charters Jim Charters is a spokesperson for Dayton History and has made presentations to numerous organizations about significant historical events and individuals from the Dayton area. He volunteers as an interpretive guide at Carillon Park and Hawthorn Hill. In 2013 he received Carillon Park’s “Volunteer of the Year” award. Jim was born in Dayton and graduated from Chaminade High School and Ashford University. After a career with Illinois Tool Works (ITW), he returned to the Dayton area (Washington Township) to enjoy retirement; in particular golf and volunteering. He volunteers as a tutor at Centerville High School and Magsig Middle School and moderates a class at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Dayton. In addition, he performs on stage as an actor with the Tipp City Players and Dayton History.

All aviation lectures are free and open to the public, and are held in the Willis Wing of the WACO Air Museum at 1865 South County Road 25A in Troy, OH. Programs are scheduled to last one hour with questions to follow.  Donations to the WACO Air Museum are accepted.  For questions, please call 937-335-9226 or visit www.wacoairmuseum.org

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