MKULTRA is the code name for a top secret Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program in which human beings were subjected to chemical experimentation. MKULTRA was a product of the Cold War. The CIA in conjunction with U. S. Army Intelligence and the Army Chemical Corps sought to identify a "K" agent. A "K" agent was described as a "knockout" drug that could alter a person's state of mind. In essence, the project's goal was to create a brainwashing psychochemical agent.

These government institutions conducted chemical experiments at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, from 1954 to 1975. During these two decades 254 known chemical agents were tested upon some 7,000 service members.

In 1977 Congressional hearings were held on the activities of the CIA during the first three decades of its history. It was during these hearings that the existence of the MKULTRA project was first made public. Following these hearings the CIA pledged to compensate individuals who had been harmed by these experiments. CIA Director Stansfield Turner contacted the Secretary of the Army and asked him to locate and notify service members who had been volunteers in the experiments of their eligibility for compensation. No one was ever notified.

In 1994 the U. S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) revealed that some volunteers had died at Edgewood and that the long term health effects of many chemical agents used at Edgewood did not appear until 20-30 years after initial exposure. It was not until 2006 that the Army released the names of the volunteers to the Veterans' Administration. Prior to this many veteran volunteers of the MKULTRA project had been denied their medical benefits.

Many volunteers claim that they had been promised the Soldier's Medal when they volunteered due to their willingness to expose themselves to bodily harm for the nation's security. Not a single volunteer was awarded this commendation. The volunteers had signed non-disclosure documents relating to the tests and were therefore unable to file claims for the medal prior to the program's declassification.

Our Goal

Our mission is to provide a comprehensive account of the MKULTRA project through the collection of declassified government documents. This digital library is meant to serve as an historical archive. The ultimate aim is to eventually make all relevant government documents easily accessible to the public.

We believe this was an important event in American history that challenges some of the basic principles of democracy and transparency upon which this nation was founded. We hope this site will help to both inform the public of this event and serve as a research center for historians studying this period of American history.

Above all else, this site is for the veteran service members who volunteered for the MKULTRA project and put their own health at risk in service to their nation, only to find themselves denied basic care and gratitude by the organizations they served. We hope the resources provided here may help some of them in filing their claims for benefits and commendations. May this testament serve as a small token of appreciation for their valor.

Collection Policy

This Digital Library is primarily concerned with the collection and organization of government documents relevant to the MKULTRA project. The vast majority of the documents contained herein are from the CIA. If the Department of Defense declassifies its documents relating to the project at some time in the future we will definitely expand our collection to include these as well.

The bulk of the documents in this collection are text files. However, there were some films taken during the course of the experiments that have been declassified as well. We consider visual images (both film and photographs) of this project to be valuable documents and have organized them accordingly in a catalog separate from the text files.

We also seek to provide users with references to second hand sources (books and articles) that deal with this subject. We can not include these resources in their full-text format due to copyright protections.

We will also maintain a portal of links to other web sites that may be of use to our patrons.