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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Theodore Petry

Laboratory HelperChicago, IL

Manhattan Project VeteranProject Worker/Staff
Ted Petry at the U of Chicago Monument to the Chicago Pile-1 scientists. Courtesy of Joseph Dowling. Listen to Theodore Petry’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

Theodore Petry (1924-2018) was a laboratory helper at the Chicago Met Lab. He was recruited while still in high school. He helped transport materials for the Met Lab, and was involved with planing graphite blocks and assembling Chicago Pile-1.

He was present on December 2, 1942, when Chicago Pile-1 went critical. For a brief period, he worked as a deckhand on an ore freighter on Lake Michigan. He later worked for the Pullman Company and at the Joslyn Manufacturing Company as an electrician. He also taught shop at Tilden Tech High School. Petry married in 1951, and had four children.

Until his death in 2018, Petry was the last known surviving witness to Chicago Pile-1. For more on Petry, read this Chicago Tribune article, and Washington Post article. 

Ted Petry and other Chicago Pile 1 participants in Washington DC, meeting with President Kennedy in 1962. Courtesy of Joseph Dowling. 

Letter from Ted Petry to his wife, Adeline, while he was in Washington DC for the meeting with President Kennedy, 1962. Courtesy of Joseph Dowling 

Second half of letter from Ted Petry to his wife, Adeline, while he was in Washington DC for the meeting with President Kennedy, 1962. Courtesy of Joseph Dowling 

Ted Petry viewing his signature on the Chianti bottle from the 1942 celebration with the other Chicago Pile 1 scientists for successfully creating the first self-sustaining chain reaction. Courtesy of Joseph Dowling

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