Changing Faces of the FBI

The face of the FBI has changed over the past century, but the core mission remains the same--to protect the nation from dangerous threats.


Video Transcript

[Music: "From Humble Beginnings" Orchestral, warm, mid-tempo]

IMAGE 1: Text stating: On July 26, 1908, Charles Bonaparte established what would become the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Since then, the men and women of the FBI have worked to protect the people and defend the nation. Here’s a look at some of them in action over the past century.

IMAGE 2: Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte, who created what would become the FBI

IMAGE 3: Employees of the Identification Division in 1929

IMAGE 4: Special Agent firing a rifle at range

IMAGE 5: Female fingerprint specialist looking at prints through magnifying glass

IMAGE 6: New agents training on the rooftop of the Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C.

IMAGE 7: Laboratory staff examining materials

IMAGE 8: Female employee leafing through files

IMAGE 9: Male laboratory employee looking through microscope

IMAGE 10: Agents on stakeout during a kidnapping case

IMAGE 11: Candid picture of Cincinnati agents in 1949

IMAGE 12: Lab technician examines evidence

IMAGE 13: Female employee operating radio receiver

IMAGE 14: Identification Division employees work at Washington, D.C. Armory during World War II

IMAGE 15: Employees send and receive teletypes

IMAGE 16: Lab scientist examines evidence

IMAGE 17: National Crime Information Center office in early 1970s

IMAGE 18: Female agent on car radio, mid 1970s

IMAGE 19: Identification employee examines fingerprint records

IMAGE 20: FBI agent Joe Pistone under cover as mobster Donnie Brasco

IMAGE 21: Lab cryptanalyst works at desk on coded message

IMAGE 22: Two agents escort handcuffed suspect in New York. Credit: Robert Maass/CORBIS

IMAGE 23: Two Hostage Rescue Team agents training with rifles drawn

IMAGE 24: Agent rakes debris looking for clues following car bombing at U.S. Embassy in Kenya. Credit: REUTERS

IMAGE 25: Instructor and FBI agent practicing firearms

IMAGE 26: Agents approach damaged Pentagon following Sept. 11 attacks.

IMAGE 27: Agents wearing respirators comfort each other at Pentagon following Sept. 11 attacks. Credit: REUTERS

IMAGE 28: Anthrax-tainted note examined in sealed chamber

IMAGE 29: Agents inspect vehicle damaged by sniper

IMAGE 30: Analysts at computer terminals

IMAGE 31: Agent at arrest of suspected gang members

IMAGE 32: Hostage negotiators discuss strategy

IMAGE 33: Agents arresting a suspect

IMAGE 34: Agents walking in alley

IMAGE 35: Agent in protective gear vaults barrier

IMAGE 36: Evidence Response Team agents survey damage at collapsed bridge site in Minnesota in 2007

IMAGE 37: Female intelligence analyst at bank of computer terminals

IMAGE 38: Bomb technician wearing protective gear

IMAGE 49: Student at FBI Academy

IMAGE 40: Agents in training at Quantico

IMAGE 41: Agents teach in classroom in Sacramento.

IMAGE 42: Agent in protective gear undergoes decontamination during training exercise

IMAGE 43: FBI SWAT Team members in New Orleans after hurricane. Credit: Associated Press

IMAGE 44: Operation Innocent Images analyst at computer terminal

IMAGE 45: Evidence Response Team members at site of a bridge collapse in Minnesota

IMAGE 46: SWAT Team member atop a city highrise

IMAGE 47: Helicopter carrying agents approaches city skyline

IMAGE 49: Evidence Response Team members carrying equipment at site of double homicide in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2006. Credit: Tracy Wilcox, The Gainesville Sun

IMAGE 50: Text stating: "Together all of us can and must do the work the American people expect of us ... in a way the Constitution demands of us." William H. Webster, Director (1978-1987).

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