The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
Written by Claudia Friddell
$11.99 US / $15.99 CAN ISBN 9781662680595 HC
Ages: 12 and up
Grades: 7 and up
Download all printables here
Guide and Activities created by Claudia Friddell and Anne McEntire
ABOUT THE BOOK
Virginia Hall, known to her family as “Dindy,” was an athletic, outdoorsy girl who dreamed of joining the foreign service and becoming an ambassador. Despite numerous setbacks, including losing her leg to gangrene after an accident, Virginia never wavered in her determination to serve her country. After the outbreak of World War II, a chance meeting on a train changed her life—George Bellows, an agent of the British Special Operations Executive, recruited her as one of its first women agents. Working for Allied intelligence services in France, Virginia Hall organized French resistance fighters, performed daring rescues, and provided the Allies with intelligence that was key for ousting the Nazis and earned her numerous medals, including the US Army’s Distinguished Service Cross.
This book takes readers through the extraordinary life of Virginia Hall and her evolution as a resistance fighter and intelligence operative. Award-winning author Claudia Friddell brings Virginia Hall’s bravery, intelligence, and determination to life in this thoroughly researched and photo-filled biography endorsed by Hall’s family.
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The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
PRAISE FOR THE MYSTERIOUS VIRGINIA HALL
“Traces the exciting life of a pioneering spy who became the CIA’s first tenured woman officer… the short chapters, plentiful photos, and ample white space makes this inviting to readers overwhelmed by dense text… a satisfying introduction to a remarkable woman’s influential contributions to espionage.” Kirkus Reviews
“Friddell’s love letter to a lesser-known WWII spy presents an impressive true story in an inviting format… A riveting exploration of Virginia Hall’s life and work, especially her undercover escapades, told with as much ease and enjoyment as a wartime spy mystery.”—Booklist
“This inspiring tale of courage, intelligence, and determination introduces Virginia Hall, one of history’s most remarkable, but relatively unknown, heroes… This biography is a good addition to a secondary school’s biography collection. Readers who enjoy stories of bravery, espionage, and strong female figures will find Hall’s story both thrilling and inspiring.” —School Library Journal
“I enjoyed sharing information about my Aunt Dindy with Claudia and am pleased with the result. It’s a great read!” —Lorna Catling, Virginia Hall’s niece
“Early in Claudia’s book, I found myself saying “Wow!” after nearly every page. How was this possible? I have heard (and told) Dindy’s story hundreds of times, but this book made the story feel fresh and new. After I finished The Mysterious Virginia Hall, I realized I had been taken on a world-wide magic carpet-like journey with a hundred mind-boggling stops along the way. My advice, dear reader, is to board this magic carpet but to fly it slowly. There is much to see, and you won’t want to miss a thing!”
Brad Catling, Virginia Hall’s great-nephew
EDUCATOR’S GUIDE
with BONUS Digital & Printable Activities
The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
PRE-READING:
1) Show class the cover of The Mysterious Virginia Hall. Does she look like a spy? Why or why not?
2) Look at photos on pages 10,11, 13, and 16. What predictions might you make about Dindy from these childhood snapshots on the provided PDF? Find and share 2-4 photos of you as a young child and tell how they show something important about your life or interests now. Full size PDF included at the end of document.
3) Make a (individual or class) KWL graphic organizer for Virginia Hall based on the title and cover of the book. What do you already know about her and what do you want to know about her? After reading, fill in the last category: what have you learned about her.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Suggestion: Use the TPS (Think, Pair, Share) process for Q’s 1, 5, 6, and 7.
Think: individual student reads the following questions, and writes down three thoughts/ answers for each.
Pair: partners discuss thoughts, checking the ones in common. Write down any new ideas.
Share in a group: review ideas and circle the one you think is most important. The group chooses an idea to share. Write down 2-3 new ideas you think apply.
1) How do you think Virginia’s upbringing and childhood at Boxhorn Farm may have influenced her choices and her ability to overcome obstacles?
2) Virginia was a leader in many different areas (sports, yearbook, plays, student government) at Roland Park Country School, the all-girls school she attended for 12 years. How do you think the experience of not having male classmates may have influenced girls in the early 1900’s? How would/does it impact you to go to school with only girls or only boys? Why?
3) Virginia experienced many harrowing situations—a hunting accident, crossing the Pyrenees in the winter with a wooden leg, driving a battlefield ambulance, having a
EDUCATOR’S GUIDE
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The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
house searched by Nazi soldiers. Imagine yourself in one of these situations. What qualities do you have that would help you navigate this experience.
4) How might the availability of Penicillin have changed Virginia’s fate following her hunting accident?
5) Virginia Hall refused public recognition of the highest civilian honors from U.S., British, and French governments to protect her identity so she could continue her espionage work. Why do you think she still refused to acknowledge or discuss her spy experiences after she retired from the CIA?
6) What do you most admire about Virginia Hall? If you could meet her, what would you like to ask her?
7) Why do you think the author, Claudia Friddell, chose to write Virginia Hall’s story with small text chunks and lots of white spaces?
GROUP ACTIVITIES:
1) Write and act out a scene from The Mysterious Virginia Hall.
2) In pairs or small groups, students choose a scene from Virginia’s life and describes it to their group as if Virginia is explaining it to grandchildren.
3) Make a class list of important events in Virginia’s life. Students working in pairs or small groups will write/draw cartoon strips depicting the events. The class will sequence them to make a short graphic novel. A full size printable is provided at the end of this document.
4) Check out this image of one of Virginia Hall’s passports. Use the template provided at the end of this document to create a passport of Virginia’s life from before she was a spy (before 1941)! The endpapers will help!
EDUCATOR’S GUIDE
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The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
5) Make a class quilt with each square representing an important event in Virginia’s life.
6) Radio Show: Most people during WW II received important news by newspaper and radio broadcasts. Listen to this short clip of Eleanor Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor attack broadcast:
7) Choose a major national or world event from the book (ex: The 1929 Stock market crash, D Day, etc.) Research, write, and/or use digital tools to give your own radio broadcast announcing this event to your class.
8) Make a flip book of Virginia’s code names and her accomplishments with each spy identity. (A full size template is included at the end of this document)
9) Use your imagination… you are shopping in an antiques market or second hand store and you find an artifact that previously belonged to Virginia Hall. What would it be? Working in small groups (no more than seven groups total) describe its importance and take a photo of an artifact like it to display. Example: a broach
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The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
(decorative pin) with a design unique to Virginia’s life. Students will be assigned a google slide on which to share the name of their artifact, a description, and a photo or video. Once completed the Virtual Spy Artifact Museum slideshow can be shared with the class. Alternatively you could display students’ (imagined) artifacts with a museumlike description in your classroom, and invite others to tour the artifacts in your classroom “museum”. Teacher copy of the museum slideshow here
10) Wax Museum: Each student will represent a different character (including various Virginia Hall spy identities) from the book. Research and write a short script explaining their importance and relationship to Virginia Hall, and dress in costume for a wax museum event where each character comes to life and recites their script.
11) Make a Virginia Hall board game or Jeopardy game (Free templates available online). Examples of categories: Dindy’s Childhood, Set Backs, Danger!, Discomforts, Disappearing Acts, Disguises.
12) Americans back home wanted to support the troops. Make a poster, write a newspaper article, or give an interview about Victory Gardens or Scrap for Victory efforts.
RESEARCH/PROJECT IDEAS:
1) Research a song, movie, or book that was popular during the 1920’s. Choose one you think Virginia would have liked and explain why.
2) Research and write about another woman with a disability who overcame discrimination to make important contributions.
3) What is the difference between a primary and secondary source? Choose one of each from the book (including back matter), and explain why it is. Include image of photo or document if used. Describe the source using the 5 W’s (who, what, where, when, why).
4) To better understand some of the civic responsibilities Americans shared during the war, choose one of these to research: war bonds, resource conservation, victory gardens, scrap drives (Salvage for Victory), USO, Red Cross.
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The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
5) Check out this National Archives website on Virginia Hall: https:// www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/virginia-hall/. Find 2 primary sources, (1 photo and 1 document) and write a descriptive caption for each.
6) Investigate one of these unsung heroes of World War II: Code Breakers, Navajo Code Talkers, Tuskegee Airmen, Six Triple Eight
VOCABULARY:
maverick liberty Depression elusive prosthetic dictator
3) Choose 5 words and write each in a sentence that connects it to Virginia’s life.
4) Memory Game: These words have more than one meaning: sympathizer, intelligence, ‘puppet’, resistance, beacon, agent, Depression. Write two definition cards for each. Make sure one of the definitions relates to war or spy terminology. Make a matching memory game with these cards.
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The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
RELATABLE RESEARCH:
How do these people/historical events connect with Virginia Hall’s life? Have students choose one from each column below and write a paragraph about how they are connected.
People and Organizations
Events and Related History
Winston Churchill
The Blitz/air raid shelters
The Gestapo Les Annees Folles
President Franklin D Roosevelt
The SOE
Rise of Hitler or Mussolini
The OSS
History of prosthetics
History of penicillin
History of French and American Alliances
Wireless radios in WW II
The Occupied/Free Zones of WW II France
French Resistance
For example, if someone chose “Wireless Radios in WWII” they could share an image of Virginia Hall’s suitcase radio (Spy Museum), give history and description of how they worked, and what dangers they presented, etc.
Josephine Baker D Day
Philippe Petain Operation Torch
World War II ambulance drivers Pearl Harbor attack
The Gestapo
Stock Market crash of 1929
Maquis
EDUCATOR’S GUIDE
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The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
IF LIFE WAS DIFFERENT:
Choose one of these events/experiences in Virginia’s life and re-write her story following the event you choose:
• Her leg heals following the hunting accident
• She passes the state department entrance exams
• Her guide discovers she has a prosthetic leg during the Pyrenees Mountain crossing
• The wireless radio is found during the farmhouse raid
• Agents Henry and Paul are captured during their parachute arrival in Central France
MAP/GEOGRAPHY BASED ACTIVITIES:
Have students match Virginia Hall’s many aliases to the regions she visited (France, Spain, etc) and label the locations (with her alias name) on a blank map of Europe. PDF of blank map included at the end of this document.
Use the end papers of the book to label all of the important French locations in this story, including the free and occupied zones and draw the boundary line. Put the number under the location name. A full sized PDF of the World of Virginia Hall map as well as an enlarged map of France can be found at the end of this document. Color all of the ALLIED countries blue and the AXIS countries orange.
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The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
DECODE THIS:
CHARACTER 3-2-1:
Positive character traits: bravery, honesty, persistence, respect, accountable, dependable, loyal, patient, responsible. Full size PDF can be found at the end of this document.
• Choose 3 traits that you think Virginia Hall possessed.
• Give 2 examples of her demonstrating these traits.
• Choose 1 trait you most admire.
A PDF of this printable can be found at the end of this document
EDUCATOR’S GUIDE
with BONUS Digital & Printable Activities The Mysterious Virginia Hall, World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy
APPENDIX:
Full size printables for items denoted with a Icon are included in the following pages. They include:
1 - Photograph Study
2 - Cartoon Strip Template
3 - Passport Template
4 - Flip Book Template
5 - Blank map of Europe
6 - World of Virginia Hall map Map of France
7 - Decode This (Cipher activity)
8 - Character 3-2-1
Photograph Study | Virginia Hall
What predictions might you make about Dindy from these childhood snapshots?
Cartoon Strip: Virginia Hall
Passport for:
World Traveler
Places I Visited Places I Visited
Places I Visited Places I Visited
Some of the many Code Names of
Virginia Hall
Decode This! Virginia Hall
A cipher is a secret way to write messages. Spies use them to hide important information. A Caesar Cipher shifts letters by a certain number. Symbol substitution is another method, where symbols are used to replace letters and words. Decode the messages below in the boxes and answer the questions within each box
Instructions: Shift each letter backward three letters to reveal the secret message (for example, d = a)
SFIIX ABP YLFP
What happened here and why is it lucky that Virginia wasn’t there?
Instructions: Use the same cipher above to change Virginia’s warning message into code:
Wolves at the door.
What is the meaning of this coded message that Virginia Hall sent to London?
3
Traits
Character 3-2-1 | Virginia Hall
that you think Virginia Hall possessed
2 Examples of her demonstrating these traits
1 Trait you most admire
After reading “The Mysterious Virginia Hall: WWII’s Most Dangerous Spy” think of some character traits that Virginia Hall possessed (example: bravery, honesty, persistence, respect, accountable, dependable, loyal, patient, responsible) list THREE traits that you think she possessed in column 1, then in column 2 list examples of how she exemplifies these traits. In column 3 list the trait you admire most and explain.
