Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Wilber A. Stevens was an army officer in charge of overseeing construction at Los Alamos. He helped choose the site where the Manhattan Project would test its first atomic bomb.

According to Robert W. Henderson, head of the Engineering Group in the Explosives Division, Stevens coined the name Trinity when the two were discussing the best way to transport the Jumbo device from the railroad. “A devout Roman Catholic, Stevens observed that the railroad siding was called ‘Pope’s Siding.’ He [then] remarked that the Pope had special access to the Trinity, and that the scientists would need all the help they could get to move the 214 ton Jumbo to its proper spot.”

Related Profiles

Francis A. Pellegrino

Tinian Island

Francis A. Pellegrino served as a sergeant in the 393rd Bombardment Squadron. He was a member of the ground crew regularly assigned first to Luke the Spook and later to Big Stink.

J. R. Van Wazer

Y-12 Plant

J. R. Van Wazer worked for the Tennessee Eastman Corporation at the Y-12 Plant.

A. Schmidt, Jr.

Oak Ridge, TN

J. A. Burns

B Reactor/100 Area

Burns worked at the 100-B Area at Hanford during the Manhattan Project