MKUltra Subproject 1

Subproject 1 of Project MKULTRA funded laboratory work on a plant drug. A 24 April 1953 draft memo says the program was to isolate and study the alkaloids of the morning glory plant Imenoea Sidaefolia Choisy (Rivea Corymbosa), reported in scientific literature to have powerful hypnotic and mentally disorienting effects on the human central nervous system. The Chemical Division of TSS was given seeds and asked to find and purify the active materials. The total cost was set not to exceed $2,000.00.

The surviving paperwork is mostly financial. A 27 April 1953 memo to the Comptroller shows $2,000.00 was obligated under authority of a 13 April 1953 memo from the DCI to the DD/A and a 17 April 1953 memo from the DD/A to the Comptroller. The named officer on these papers is Sidney Gottlieb, Chief of the TSS Chemical Division. The outside researcher who did the work is redacted.

The file also holds an invoice and payment. A June 5, 1953 letter from the redacted researcher bills 153 hours of project work from April 13 to June 4 at $5.00 per hour, totaling $765.00. A receipt records payment of that $765.00 by check No. M-131999. Two later draft memos (25 April 1954 and 27 April 1955) extend the subproject for one more year each because funds remained. Ledger cards track the obligations, expenditures, and balance.