News Archive

August 23, 2025 Newsletter This month the world recognized the 80th anniversary of the development and use of the atomic bombs on Japan in 1945. People from around the globe gathered at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and floated lanterns with messages of peace. The three Manhattan Project National Historical Park sites also commemorated the anniversary with […]

This issue looks at Vannevar Bush’s legacy of Federal funding for basic scientific research as the Trump administration cuts back on funding. The Department of Energy’s Chris Wright is calling for a “Manhattan Project 2” to ensure American predominance in artificial intelligence and to jump-start a long-awaited renaissance for nuclear energy. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is at […]

December 20, 2024 Newsletter As 2024 comes to an end, nuclear power is poised for a resurgence. This issue traces the beginnings of civilian nuclear power in the USA in the decades following World War II. For twenty years, the USA led the world in developing the blueprint for nuclear power reactors. As former Chairman […]

April 4, 2024 Newsletter The movie “Oppenheimer” won seven Academy Awards, creating a “Big Bang” in the media. On March 10, the BBC’s Dan Snow produced a History Hits podcast on “Oppenheimer vs Einstein,“ interviewing the Atomic Heritage Foundation’s Cindy Kelly. Japan’s NHK produced a documentary about Edgar Sengier, “Mystery Man of the A-Bomb.“ In March, “A Compassionate Spy” featured Theodore A. […]

February 3, 2023 Newsletter This issue highlights the exoneration of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. In December, the Secretary vacated the Atomic Energy Commission’s 1954 decision to revoke Oppenheimer’s security clearance. In recognition of Black History Month in February, the issue notes the challenges and contributions of Black people who worked […]

December 1, 2022 Newsletter This issue recognizes the 80th anniversary of the Chicago Pile-I. Built in a squash court at the University of Chicago, this experimental “pile” was used to demonstrate the world’s first controlled nuclear reaction on December 2, 1942. Thanks to our many generous donors, the Atomic Heritage Foundation (AHF) and the National Museum […]

March 12, 2022 Newsletter This newsletter focuses on the Ukrainian situation today and its links to the past. The first article highlights how the speeches of Winston Churchill in June 1940 inspire Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he defends his country from Russia’s ruthless invasion. Second, Manhattan Project veteran Benjamin Bederson recounts his shock at […]

November 2, 2021 Newsletter This issue features a recent BBC In Our Time podcast on the Manhattan Project (see website) hosted by Melvyn Bragg with Frank Close, Cameron Reed and Cynthia Kelly. This issue also pays tribute to Martin J. Sherwin, a wonderful friend of AHF who won the Pulitzer Prize with co-author Kai Bird for their biography of […]

August 26, 2021 Newsletter This issue features two articles by science journalist William J. Broad published in the New York Times (Tuesday, August 10, 2021) that probe “the truth behind the news.” The articles contrast New York Times journalist William L. Laurence (pictured above on left with General Leslie Groves) with Black war correspondent Charles H. Loeb. As official […]

July 16, 2021 Seventy-six years ago on Monday, July 16, 1945, the efforts of the Manhattan Project dramatically came to fruition. The world’s first nuclear device, the “Gadget,” was successfully detonated in the New Mexico desert. With the “light of a thousand suns,” the nuclear era began. This issue will explore the unknown risks posed by […]