Frances Foot was in her 80s the times I met her, and that was probably
20 years ago.  I believe she died around 1990, give or take a year or
two.   'Footie', as she was known to the family, was based in
Washington D.C., but as a young adult, lived alone in many different
countries, most of them in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East etc. 
 She moved quite a bit, was alone, and there was always quite a bit of
mystery around her work.  Her family believe she may have been a U.S.
intelligence agent.  I'd love to put together a research package on
her, as a gift for the family.  How can I find out whether, in fact,
she was a 'spy', so long ago?    You can point me in a direction - or,
if you'd be able to find out this info about her yourself, let me now
- I'll up the price.

---

Clarification of Question by lmighton-ga on 12 Mar 2005 14:12 PST

To fp-ga, RE:  could it be Foott, that spelling had not occurred to me
- I will check with the family and get back to you.  The years do seem
about right.  Can I post info here or email to update you, if you
haven't sent me a question?  How?

To 'politicalguru-ga', I'm unclear - if that is the answer (my price
only gets me a link), can I then get that link?   I'm willing to pay
more if the researcher knows a research route that will enable them to
find out whether she was in fact an intelligence agent for the U.S.  
I know the UK releases intelligence documents after a certain number
of years (50?) - don't know if it's the same in the U.S., or if
documents are never released, in which case it wouldn't be possible
for us to ever find out.

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Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 13 Mar 2005 08:32 PST

I didn't post an answer, I've posted a comment. There are several ways
to obtain this information, and yes - I think that I could show you
several means to reveal this information (this is indeed possible with
US institutions).

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Clarification of Question by lmighton-ga on 18 Mar 2005 22:12 PST

Hi
Sorry for the lengthy delay, it took a bit to get a response from my friend:

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you lisa ... her name was Frances
McCrae Foott, her birthday was March 15th (yesterday), 1902.  She
lived in Washington DC and worked for NSA (National Security Agency
... I think ... something like that).  I'll find out when she died and
get back to you.  Looking forward to hearing what you might find!

W

Foottie died on August 30, 1991.

---

Clarification of Question by lmighton-ga on 31 Mar 2005 20:35 PST

So since we know she worked for the National Security Agency, over 50
years ago, what would be necessary to put in a Freedom of Information
Act request?  Are Americans only allowed to put those in - the family
and I are Canadian.  Any ideas, anyone?

Interesting!

Why not do like other spy writers ...

Just make it up?

I adding this as a comment, because I am not really sure if I
understand what you're looking for. Especially, given the fact that
the price you've pinned to this question is usually asociated with a
short answer with one link, not to extensive research work. However:

- Start with her pension records. From whom did she receive pension? 

- You can file a FOIA request to the CIA (and other agencies).
However, this is a bit funny thing to do before you know whether or
not she actually received government pension.

Could it be "Foott" (i.e. not "Foot")?

Frances Foott (1902 - 1991):
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Search/ssdi/individual_record.asp?recid=577489909

"Frances M Foott" according to
http://www.newenglandancestors.org/research/database/ss/default.asp

Well, although I was able to identify her by searching the "US Social
Security Death Index"
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ssdi/search_ssdi.asp&clear_form=true

I'm sorry to say that (currently) I don't know anything else about her.

Perhaps politicalguru-ga will help you find an answer.

NSA and the FOIA:
http://www.nsa.gov/foia/index.cfm

"Submit a FOIA Request":
http://www.nsa.gov/foia/foia00008.cfm

"Under the provisions of Executive Order 12958 (Classified National
Security Information), dated 17 April 1995, NSA reviews for
declassification all permanently classified documents 25 years or
older. As these documents are declassified, they are turned over to
the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)":
http://www.nsa.gov/public/publi00003.cfm

"FOI Letter Generator":
http://www.rcfp.org/foi_letter/generate.php

"TAPPING OFFICIALS' SECRETS":
http://www.rcfp.org/cgi-local/tapping/index.cgi

http://www.rcfp.org/