Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Wendell Edwards

Columbia University
African-American

Wendell Edwards was born in Snow Hill, Alabama in 1907. Although his father was the founder of Snow Hill Institute in 1893, He graduated from Laurinburg Institute in 1925. From there he attended Talladega College, and graduated with a degree in Mathematics and Physics. He later attended Columbia University during the formation of the Manhattan Project, and graduated with a Masters Degree in Mathematics and Physics. He did research under Professors Fermi, Szilard, Zinn, and Anderson. His identification card listed him as a Junior Physicist. He died on May 25, 1975.

Related Profiles

Kattie Strickland

Oak Ridge, TN

Kattie Strickland was part of the janitorial staff at Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project. Unlike the white women whom she worked along side, Ms.

Valeria Steele Roberson

Oak Ridge, TN

Valeria Steele Roberson is the granddaughter of Kattie Strickland, an African American who moved to Oak Ridge from Alabama with her husband to work on the Manhattan Project.

Hermann J. Muller

Columbia University

Hermann Joseph Muller was an American geneticist and winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Eric Jette

Los Alamos, NM

Eric Jette (1897-1963) was an American metallurgist.  He was a professor of metallurgy at Columbia University School of Mines before being recruited for the Manhattan Project.