National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
August “Gus” Knuth was a millwright and carpenter who helped construct Chicago Pile-1. He was present on December 2, 1942 when the pile went critical in the first self-sustaining chain reaction in history.
William T. Kelley was drafted in 1942 into the Army and was assigned to the Corps of Engineers’ Manhattan District as part of the counterintelligence element of the project.
