‘The Codebreaker’ to show at March 18 matinee at Granville library

The Putnam County Public Library will host, at the Granville branch, a movie matinee of “The Codebreaker,” at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, in honor of Women’s History Month.

Based on the book, “The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies,” the documentary reveals the story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst whose painstaking work to decode thousands of messages for the U.S. government would send gangsters to prison in the 1930s and bring down a massive, near-invisible Nazi spy ring in World War II.

Friedman’s contributions would come to light decades after her death when secret government files were unsealed. But together with her husband, the legendary cryptologist William Friedman, she helped develop the methods that led to the creation of the powerful new science of cryptology and laid the foundation for modern codebreaking today.

The documentary is 52 minutes in length, rated PG and made possible through public performance rights through Kanopy. Refreshments will be served. The Granville branch is located at 214 S. McCoy St. For information, call the library at 815-339-2038.