William “Bill” Harris Penny’s parents came to the United States from Newfoundland in 1910. His father, T.G. Penny worked in the steel mills in Indiana and with a traveling work gang that built bridges. He married Annie Chislett in 1910 in Gary, Indiana and a year later she returned to St. John’s Newfoundland to her parents’ home to give birth to their first child, William Harris. A few months later Annie return to the United States with her son and joined her husband who had returned earlier to Brooklyn where he was working as an ironworker.
William grew up in Brooklyn and attended Manual Training High School and after graduating in 1929 went to work for the Brooklyn Edison Company where he started as a technical clerk. He worked his way up with the company, becoming an electrical estimator and then transferred to the parent company, the Consolidated Edison Co. of New York as a Junior Engineer. During this time he married, was living in Brooklyn, and had a son. Over these next 10 years, he went to night school to earn his degree and in June 1943 received a degree in Electrical Engineering at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.
Oak Ridge
William G. Penny (son of William H. Penny discussing his fathers experience):
- “It was in 1942, we were at war already, and they just told him there was an electrical system that they needed to have worked on. He decided to go down there and take that job, went down, and then moved my mother down there early in ’43. She wasn’t told the location right away.”
- “For a number of years, he used to jokingly chastise his mother for going back to Newfoundland to have him born, especially for the fact that Stan and Florence (his siblings) were born in the United States. He was very upset with her for going back to St. John’s to have him. He ultimately wound up with a Q clearance.”
Stanley Penny, Sr. (brother of William H. Penny discussing his brothers experience):
- “On his trip down to Oak Ridge, Tennessee it wasn’t one straight train ride. He had to take a train to a certain location, which might have been Chicago and then when he got to that location he was told where to go next. They did not know their final destination. A couple of guy s got drunk on the train and didn’t continue on the trip as they were fired immediately.”
From William’s job resume he put together later in his career:
1943 to 1946 (2 1/2 years) Tennessee Eastman Corp., Clinton Engineer Works, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Job title – Electrical Supervisor & Technical Supervisor:
For the past 2 1/2 years, I have been associated with the Atomic Bomb Development at the Clinton Engineering Works Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Due to the secrecy of this project, which is still being maintained, I am restricted as to what I can say about my specific job duties. During this period, I was engaged in the production of Atomic Bomb Material (U-235). This period was divided as follows:
· Three months of intensive study and laboratory experimentation with pilot plant equipment and the development of production equipment at the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California. This was followed by four months of directing the training program of electrical personnel employed for plant operation and maintenance at a company school established at the plant site (Oak Ridge, Tennessee). There were 12 to 15 electrical instructors under my direct supervision.
· For one year I was Electrical Supervisor of 25 to 30 men, including foreman, operators, and technicians who were responsible for the operation and maintenance of electronic, power, and an intricate control system in a large production building for electromagnetic process of separating U- 235.
· For my last 11 months in Oak Ridge, I was asked to direct a group of eight electrical engineers concerned with modifying the design of the equipment used in the electromagnetic process. Since both this process and equipment was new, there were many design changes prepared and placed an operation to keep this equipment operating at peak capacity.
William “Bill” Graham Penny: “He worked on the electrical section of the bomb. Most of the time he worked midnight to dawn. I would get up and eat breakfast and he would be coming in the door. He was one of the senior engineers working on it. That was one the reason they wanted him to have his degree. They were making sure the bomb went off. Mr. Hendrickson that I met was a brilliant guy and a brilliant physicist.”
After the War
When his job was done in Oak Ridge, he decided not to remain working for the government and returned to work in the New York City area. He also taught at Brooklyn Polytechnic at night for the next ten years.
· 1946 Safeway Heat Elements Co.
· 1947-1950 Consolidated Edison Company of New York
· 1951-1954 Ford, Bacon and Davis, Inc.
· 1955-1957 McConathy, Hoffman and Assoc., Inc.,
Death at a young age In 1959 he became sick and was hospitalized at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.
He died from cancer of the stomach.
Summary of his Pathology report: “This 48 year old white male was diagnosed as having inoperable adenocarcinoma of stomach in November 1959. He died six months later. Autopsy shows a diffuse infiltrating adenocarcinoma of stomach with widespread metastases. Jaundice resulted from bile duct compression by tumor deposits in the pancreas.”
Stanley Penny, William’s brother and my father said that there were others who had worked in Oak Ridge that were also in Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. William died at the early age of 48. His close family members all felt that he had given his life for his country, and that his death was related to his work in Tennessee.
W. H. Penny’s Resume
Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
Received the degree of Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. This degree was obtained wholly by evening work.
1929 to 1931: Brooklyn Edison Company
Job title – Technical Clerk
1935 to 1937 (2 years): Brooklyn Edison Company
Job title – Electrical Estimator
1937 to 1943 (three years) Consolidated Edison Co.
(The Brooklyn Edison Company was closed closely affiliated with the Consolidated Edison Co. of New York and I transferred to the parent company)
Job title – Junior Engineer
June 1943
Received electrical engineering degree at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute
1943 to 1946 (2 1/2 years)
Tennessee Eastman Corp., Clinton Engineer Works, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Job title — Electrical Supervisor & Technical Supervisor: For the past 2 1/2 years, I have been associated with the Atomic Bomb Development at the Clinton Engineering Works Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Due to the secrecy of this project, which is still being maintained, I am restricted as to what I can say about my specific job duties. During this period, I was engaged in the production of Atomic Bomb Material (U-235). This period was divided as follows:
- Three months of intensive study and laboratory experimentation with pilot plant equipment and the development of production equipment at the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California. This was followed by four months of directing the training program of electrical personnel employed for plant operation and maintenance at a company school established at the plant site (Oak Ridge, Tennessee). There were 12 to 15 electrical instructors under my direct supervision.
- For one year I was Electrical Supervisor of 25 to 30 men, including foreman, operators, and technicians who were responsible for the operation and maintenance of electronic, power, and an intricate control system in a large production building for electromagnetic process of separating U- 235.
- For my last 11 months in Oak Ridge, I was asked to direct a group of eight electrical engineers concerned with modifying the design of the equipment used in the electromagnetic process. Since both this process and equipment was new, there were many design changes prepared and placed an operation to keep this equipment operating at peak capacity.
January 1946 to September 1946 (eight months): Safeway Heat Elements Co.
Job title – Electrical Engineer
September 1946 to January 1947 (five months): Phen Products Corp.
Job title – Vice President in charge of Production
September 1946 to February 1947 (3 1/2 years): Consolidated Edison Company of New York
Job title – Electrical Engineering Assistant
1950 to 1954 (four years): Ford, Bacon and Davis, Inc.
Job title – Electrical Engineer
1954 to 1957 (2 years, 11 months): McConathy, Hoffman and Assoc., Inc.
Job title – Principle Electrical Engineer
February 1947 to 1957 (10 1/2 years): Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
Job title – Instructor in Electrical Engineering