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Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Assoc., Inc. Newsletter |
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| February
2003 Newsletter |
February 22, 2003 |
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Welcome to our first newsletter for the year 2003. This newsletter
is being brought to you by our new e-mail distribution service called
Constant Contact. In a time when all of us are being bombarded by
unwanted junk mail, we need to take extra precautions to insure that
only those interested in the history of the Manhattan Project receive
this newsletter. If you have received this newsletter in error and are
not interested in preserving the history of America's atomic bomb
effort during World War II, please "click" on UNSUBSCRIBE at the
bottom of this newsletter and that will permanently remove you from
further distributions. For those of you who wish to continue to
receive this newsletter throughout the next year, please "click" on
Edit Your Interests at the bottom of this newsletter and review the
information there. You may update the information as you see fit.
Reunion/Symposium Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the
Manhattan Project
Plans are underway for a major event to honor the 60th anniversary
of the Manhattan Project. It is scheduled to be held in Washington, DC
with arrival on Thursday, October 23rd and departure on Sunday,
October 26th.
There will be a combination of reunion activities and conferences
related to all aspects of the Manhattan Project. This will be the
first time that an event such as this has attempted to bring together
participants from all of the various locations. It is also possible
that we will have some participation from a major political figure in
Washington. It promises to be a memorable event for all concerned.
We have three speakers lined up thus far but are looking for
several more. If you or someone you know might be interested in
speaking at this event, please let us know as soon as possible. Anyone
with an interest in the history of America's atomic bomb development
during World War II is invited.
We need to get an early idea of the number of people that might
attend. Without committing yourself, please let us know if you would
be interested in the event and the number that might attend from your
family. Anyone interested in helping with the planning of this event,
please contact us. We will send out another notice around the end of
March with many more details,
Recently Added New Photos - Check Them Out Here!!
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Manhattan Project Virtual Museum |
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We are excited to relate that the idea of a new 'Virtual Museum'
on the Internet dealing with Manhattan Project history is gaining
momentum. Our present web site, which contains more than 1,700
pages of content, is bursting at the seams. Traffic has been
increasing as well. We finished the year 2002 with 194,000
visitors and close to 1,000,000 pages viewed. Based upon traffic
for the first 2 months of 2003, we should approach 350,000
visitors in 2003
The 'Virtual Museum' concept has caught the attention of
educators who are encouraging us to work toward establishing a new
standard of Internet-based education by focusing on 'DBQ's'
(Document Based Questions) and to provide means for different
grade levels to approach the subject matter for purposes of
critical thinking and problem solving
We are in the process of applying for funding for this major
over-haul of our present web site. If anyone has any contacts with
foundations or corporations that may be interested in taking a
look at our plans, please contact us
Virtual Museum & Research Center »
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The Paul Filipkowski Collection |
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We are excited to announce a new image collection for our web site
that is being launched at the same time as this newsletter. During
the 1980's, Paul Filipkowski, an avid Manhattan Project collector,
corresponded with many Manhattan Project veterans and received
many first hand accounts of their experiences with the Project.
Photos and documents were provided as well.
Subsequent to Paul's untimely death, his mother, Mary
Filipkowski, mailed Paul's collection to Joe Papalia in New York
(another avid collector and a member of our Board of Advisors). He
advised her on how best to preserve the collection. He then sorted
through the material and assisted Mary by placing all of the items
in protective acid free covers for safekeeping. At the same time,
Joe asked Mary if she would allow some of Paul's collection to be
exhibited on our web site. She agreed and so started an odyssey
with Joe scanning much of the material and e-mailing it to us over
a period of more than 30 days.
As of the 3rd week in February, Joe has sent us more than 250
items from Paul's collection. We have an additional 150 items yet
to be scanned. Thus far we have 105 available on the web site for
viewing. An additional 105 will be completed in a couple of weeks.
Paul's collection is a clear demonstration of the power that
the Internet has in being able to exhibit wonderful items of
memorabilia that otherwise would never be seen by the general
public. Please click on the link to go to Paul's collection.
Go to the Paul Filipkowski Collection »
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New Material on the Web Site |
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Increased traffic to our web site is really taking off and this
has resulted in more people appreciating our efforts to preserve
an accurate history of the Manhattan Project. In the past 30 days,
in addition to the Paul Filipkowski Collection above, we have
received five groupings of material that will be added to the web
site in the near future. Total new content may approach an
additional 1,500 web pages.
Trish Higgins, daughter of the late Joseph Gorman, the Records
Officer for the Manhattan Engineer District at Oak Ridge, has
graciously donated a wealth of documents from both of the MED's
administrative offices at Oak Ridge and New York City. Personnel
directories and a wonderful pictorial history of the Women's Army
Corps Detachment are included. Larry O'Rourke, a former member of
the Special Engineer Detachment at Columbia University and the
K-25 Plant at Oak Ridge, donated several documents related to Oak
Ridge including the pictorial yearbook of the SED's at Oak Ridge
dated 1945.
Marvin Davis Sr., a former member of the military police at
Trinity Site, has sent us a formidable collection of photos and
documents. Many of the items were given to him by the late Capt.
Howard Bush, the commanding officer at Trinity. We haven't had
time to go through it all but there is probably about 150 items.
Gen. Paul Tibbets, an avid supporter of our mission, has given us
permission to reproduce the entire pictorial history of the 509th
Composite Group on our web site. This new addition will compliment
the more than 350 items already exhibited on our site and aid
family members of many of the veterans to have photos of them
during their time on Tinian Island. Joe Papalia, a Manhattan
Project collector, has provided us with many photos associated
with Operation Crossroads during the last year of the Manhattan
Project in 1946. This collection of photos will add a significant
amount of history to our web site.
If you have any memorabilia that you feel would be of interest
to our visitors, please contact us. If you wish to donate it to
us, we will insure that it is properly archived and preserved. We
will also send you a letter documenting your donation and giving
you an approximate value for income tax purposes. If you do not
wish to part with your memorabilia, please consider sending it to
us for scanning. We will take extra good care of it and return it
to you in a few days. |
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Manhattan Project 60th Anniversary Calendar |
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Our calendar commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Manhattan
Project that was announced earlier this year has been very well
received. We have printed an additional 50 calendars and have them
available for a reduced price of $17.95.
To see a full description of the calendar or to purchase one
using a credit or debit card, please go to eBay.com and search for
item # 3204541080 or click on the link.
We also have a few of Fred Olivi's books left, 'Decision at
Nagasaki, (eBay Item # 3502697762) and a rare 21 min VHS video of
the loading of Little Boy and Fat Man on Tinian Island (eBay Item
# 3205511974).
If you wish to purchase any of our items but will be paying by
check or money order, please contact us. All proceeds from sales
go to supporting our mission to preserve the history of the
Manhattan Project
Visit the Atomic Bomb General Store »
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New Book by Dr. Theodore Rockwell |
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Dr. THEODORE ROCKWELL has been directly involved in nuclear power
for nearly 60 years. At the war-time atomic bomb project at Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, he worked in an elite Process Improvement "Tiger
Team." After the war he transferred to the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory and became Head of the Radiation Shield Engineering
Group. In 1949 then-Captain Hyman Rickover hired him to help
develop designs, procedures and facilities for safe operation of
nuclear-powered naval vessels and the world's first commercial
central station nuclear power plant. As the program's Technical
Director, he went out on initial sea trials of each new ship. In
1964 he left with two colleagues to set up the respected
engineering firm MPR Associates, Inc.
Dr. Rockwell has recently published a new book titled "Creating
the New World: Stories and Images >From the Dawn of the Atomic
Age". For purchasing information and to read about this exciting
new book, please click on the thumbnail photo above left. Dr.
Rockwell is also the author of numerous other books, including
"The Rickover Effect"...see the thumbnail photo on the right.
Also, Dr. Rockwell has graciously accepted to be a featured
speaker at our planned reunion and symposium. (See featured
article above)
Please 'click' here for ordering information »
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Veteran's Stories |
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We have been soliciting stories about experiences while working on
the Manhattan Project. Following are two excellent stories that we
have received:
James W. Osborn, a former SED at Los Alamos, and a long-time
member of our organization, has sent us a very interesting story
of his experiences working on criticality experiments with Harry
Daghlian and Louis Slotin at the time of their untimely deaths.
Click on the link to read the story titled "Three Accidents" The
story is quite 'technical' but a MUST READ.
William Cronk 'Bill' Elmore died January 23, 2003 at Dunwoody
Village, Newtown Square. He was 93. He will be remembered for his
distinguished life of academic excellence. Bill earned a degree
(Phi Beta Kappa) in Engineering Physics from Lehigh in 1932 and a
Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University in 1935. Family and friends
will also remember him as an accomplished musician as well as
enthusiastic farmer, craftsman and inventor. He was a man who
lived a life of dignity, family values, caring, and who possessed
a wonderful sense of humor.
W. C. 'Bill' Elmore was a former physicist at Los Alamos and
the Trinity Site during World War II. His family has sent us three
pages of reminiscences of Dr. Elmore while at Los Alamos titled:
"Fifty Years Ago". Another distinguished Manhattan Project veteran
has left us.
'Click" HERE to read these two excellent stories of wartime Los
Alamos »
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Does Anyone Remember These Veterans??? |
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One of our missions is to locate Manhattan Project veterans and to
assist family members of veterans in learning about their role in
the Project. Below are the names of a few Manhattan Project
veterans. If anyone recalls the name or has any information about
the veteran, please contact us.
Los Alamos, NM - Ernie Bigari (electrician); Merton G. Ridge -
- - - - 509th Composite Group - James R. Marchese (603rd Air
Engineering Squadron) - - - - - Oak Ridge, TN - Herman W. Carnes
(K-25 Plant); Elmer Foust (K-25 Plant); William A. Sturm (SED);
Henry Robert Barwick; B. A. Howard (SED); and August 'Dutch' Anton
Sr.
Chicago Met Lab - Bud Gore (Admin.) - - - - - Fairmont,
Nebraska - William C. Deem Jr. (Mod. to B29 Bomber) - - - - -
Hanford, WA - Raymond F. Murphy (Morris Knudson Construction Co.)
- - - - - Corporate Partners - Dr. Raphael Rosen (Kellex Corp);
Arthur S. Gminski (H. E. Dickerman Co. Springfield, MA); Robert F.
McCarthy (General Electric - Pittsfield, MA); Arnold Grubbe (the
Crane Company - Chicago)
We are a national partner of the Veterans History Project of
the Library of Congress and are collecting oral histories from
Manhattan Project veterans, both military and civilian. If you
would like to participate and help preserve this very important
piece of American History, please let us know. We have conducted
several already. Also, many of the names of veterans listed above
are also on our Veteran Message Board. Please click on the link
below to view the message board. - - - - - Please let us know if
you have any information that you would like included in our next
newsletter to be issued in April 2003. - - - - - Immediately below
are additional links to different sections of our web site - - - -
- In closing, thank you very much for your interest in preserving
an accurate history of the Manhattan Project.
Go to Veteran Message Board »
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Potpourri |
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Each month we receive many comments from our visitors. Below are a
few that we would like to share with you. - - - - - Katie Ralph
(United Kingdom) I am only 10 and i love this Website. I am in
year 6 and we are learning about World War 2 and this Website has
all the imformation i need on ANYTHING! I hope more people use
this Website in the future for any reason and trust me you will
find what you want! - - - - - Robert W. Crawford (New South Wales
- Australia) OUTSTANDING SITE! This site is a credit to the
research skills of all those involved in its design. A tribute not
only to the 509th but to the strength, compassion and altruism of
the American people. I enjoy peace and democracy today, largely
due to the heroic efforts, sacrifices and resolve of the American
people. How can I thank them? Perhaps reading through this site
and the many WW2 books I have purchased. >From one grateful
Australian Thankyou. - - - - - - - - - I am a physics Professor -
About fourteen years ago I decided to change the format of a
course I teach to non-majors. I wanted them to learn a limited
area of physics, encounter that study historically, and understand
the impact of physics on world history. Of course the Manhattan
Project drew the obvious short straw. The unique aspect of this is
that the class becomes the project. I divide the class into the
actual working groups of the project and we work our way through
from week to week. In thirteen weeks (thirty- nine meetings) we
learn some basic nuclear physics and then work our way from the
Einstein (and Szilard and Wigner) letter to Hiroshima. After we
begin the actual project, I do not lecture. The class participants
have a chronology, references (primarily Hewlett and Anderson),
and a schedule of where we are each day on the project time line.
They then report to the class, in open discussion, what they are
doing in their groups. We do see tension between du Pont and the
Met Lab. And we spend a lot of time in the mud and cleaning out
calutrons at Y-12. And we mourn the deaths at S-50 when the HEX
spilled. The students learn how a major project like this is
undertaken by being the project. They also even learn some
physics. - - - - - >From a student: "The moment of understanding
for me came three classes from the end when we saw the footage of
the Trinity Test. That was the moment I realized how we as
scientists and engineers get caught up in the process of learning
and discovering, of passion - and how it is possible for human
beings like me to participate in actions and, at some moments, we
don't even realize what we are participating in." - - - - The
student here is writing as a class participant who has "acted" her
way through the project and was a "scientist." She is really a
drama student. Finally, we are a Mennonite college. So our
students are mostly pacifists. I, of course, lived in a victory
cottage at Oak Ridge when I was four. My dad was project manager
for John A. Johnson Construction in Oak Ridge. He lived in a
dormitory until we got there in 44. Peace, Carl Helrich Carl S.
Helrich, Ph.D. - - Goshen College - Professor and Chair Department
of Physics - Goshen, IN 46526 carlsh@goshen.edu
Oak Ridge Heritage & Preservation Association has produced it's
2nd calendar "History's Best Kept Secret" on the 1940's era of The
Atomic City, Oak Ridge, Tennessee the photos included were taken
by Government Photographer Ed Westcott who is an active member of
the organization and is still taking photos of present day Oak
Ridge. The cost of the 2003 calendar is $12.00, includes shipping.
To order send email to bobbies_arts@hotmail.com, I am Bobbie
Martin secretary for ORHPA. Our website at www.orhpa.org Also May
16 & 17 the City of Oak Ridge will have it's first Secret City
Festival - 1940's to the future, www.secretcityfestival.com Thank
You, Bobbie Martin
Since our last newsletter, we have been made aware of the
deaths of the below individuals who proudly served with the
Manhattan Project and each, in their own way, contributed to an
early conclusion to World War II - - - - - William C. 'Bill'
Elmore; Physicist at Los Alamos & Trinity (See story earlier in
this newsletter) - - - - - Corinne ("KIKI") Cole Hesser
(1912-2002). Kiki proudly served as a Womens Aircraft Instrument
Technician as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II.
Her group calibrated Norden Bombsights, including the bombsights
for the Enola Gay & Bockscar. - - - - - Richard Nelson, radio
operator of the Enola Gay on the Hiroshima mission.
Finally, we are still struggling to maintain and add new
content to the web site and to answer the many hundreds of e-mails
we get each month. We need new members ($15 for veterans and $20
for all others); we need contributions to help defray the start-up
costs of our new virtual museum; we need help for the upcoming
reunion in Washington, DC; and, we can always use any used
computer equipment in good condition. All contributions and
donations are 100% tax deductible. |
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Quick Links... |
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email:
support@childrenofthemanhattanproject.org
voice: 607-535-5596
web:
http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org
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