WWII code breakers helped launch computer industry in Minnesota; they’ll be recognized this week

Thanks to a group of World War II code breakers, St. Paul will be cemented in history as one of the birthplaces of modern computing technology this week. Born from the U.S. Navy code breakers, a group known as Engineering Research Associates was in existence for only six years in St. Paul but would go on to have a global impact across computer technology, electronic communication and the medical device industry.
The formation of ERA paved the way for entrepreneurs in computer technology to build up their businesses into nationally recognized corporations, said Don Hall, author of a book on the subject titled “Generation of Wealth: The Rise of Control Data and How it Inspired an Era of Innovation and Growth in the Upper Midwest.”

“I think ERA should be acknowledged just like any other important artifact,” said Hall, who is financing a commemorative plaque that will be unveiled at ERA’s original St. Paul location on June 15. “I am hoping to leave the marker for future generations,” he said.

The formation of ERA
During WWII, the U.S. Navy created a team of code breakers made up of mathematicians, physicists and engineers tasked with interpreting German and Japanese electronic communications.

“They were at the forefront of computer technology, but couldn’t tell anyone about it because it was top secret,” Hall said.

After the war, the group of code breakers was seen as an important national resource and with the help of John Parker, a Navy man and director of St. Paul-based Northwest Airlines, raised the funds to establish ERA in 1946.