Washington

Donald Ross: My name is Donald Ross, and I am about to begin my eightieth year on this planet. I was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and I left there with my parents at an early age. We moved to the southern tip of Texas, and had a little farm not too far from Edinburg, Texas, […]

Gerhart Friedlander: My name is Gerhart Friedlander. Interviewer: What was your role in the Manhattan Project? Friedlander: I got into the Manhattan Project very early; in fact, before there was an official Manhattan Project. I was a graduate student at Berkeley at the University of California. My thesis advisor was Glenn Seaborg, who later on […]

Ernest Tremmel: I’m Ernie Tremmel.  I graduated from the University of Wisconsin in civil engineering, and I went to work for the Corps of Engineers in St. Louis. One of my bosses was a Captain Powell who, after I was in St. Louis two years, got transferred to a secret project he was going to […]

Isabella Karle: Isabella Karle. I-S-A-B-E-L-L-A K-A-R-L-E Cindy Kelly: Terrific. Could you tell us how you happened to become part of the Manhattan Project? Karle: My husband, Jerome Karle, completed his work for the PhD degree about four months before I completed mine. By the time I had completed my work, he was already ensconced at […]

Jerome Karle: My name is Jerome Karle. And it is J-E-R-O-M-E K-A-R-L-E. Cindy Kelly: Great. Dr. Karle, can you tell me about what you were doing in the early 1940s and how you happened to become part of the Manhattan Project? Karle: Well, I had just finished my work in 1943, for my graduation on […]

Ralph Lapp:  I am Ralph Lapp, L-A-P-P. I am a physicist, nuclear physicist, an author, and a consultant. I have engaged in finance and technology. Interviewer: Great. What can you tell us about your role in the Manhattan Project? Lapp: Well, my role was quite a small one, but to me fascinating. I was in […]

Ted Rockwell: It’s Theodore Rockwell, R – O – C – K – W – E – L – L. And what do you want to know? Cindy Kelly: Okay. Tell us about how you happened to go to the Manhattan Project? Rockwell: Well, they were interviewing at school. I came along interviewing for a […]

Philip Abelson: My name is Philip Abelson. I was the son of two Norwegian immigrants. My father was born north of the Arctic Circle, and my mother was born in middle Norway. I visited the birthplaces of both of them. They were very wonderful parents. I couldn’t have had better parents. My father got his […]

Robert S. Norris: The first thing we should do is to identify yourself. Andrew Hanson: My name is Andrew J. Hanson, and I’m the son of Alfred O. Hanson, who was at Los Alamos just having finished his PhD, and coming down from Ray Herb’s nuclear physics research group at Wisconsin. He was working for […]

Mary Rockwell: My name is Mary Rockwell. Spell it? M-a-r-y R-o-c-k-w-e-l-l. Cindy Kelly: Very good. What was your maiden name? Rockwell: Compton. Kelly: And how is that spelled? Rockwell: C-o-m-p-t-o-n. Kelly: Okay. Is there a funny story attached with that? Rockwell: Yes. My sister, her husband having been head of the Y-12 Beta process, was […]