Military-Civilian Relations

[The Atomic Heritage Foundation is grateful to the Augustine family for donating this interview for publication.] Dolores Augustine: Today is January 1st, 2007, and behind the camera is Dr. Dolores Augustine of St. John’s University, New York. I am interviewing Mr. Reginald C. Augustine about the Alsos Mission. So, go ahead. You can start talking […]

Reginald Augustine served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. In 1944, he was assigned to the Alsos Mission, the Manhattan Project’s counterintelligence mission in Europe to determine how far Nazi Germany had gotten on the path to building an atomic bomb. Augustine served under Colonel Boris Pash, and accompanied the Mission’s scientists […]

Cindy Kelly: It is Wednesday, September 12, 2018. I’m in Seattle, Washington, and I have Jackie Peterson with me. My first question to her is to tell me her full name and spell it. Jackie Peterson: My name is Jackie Peterson. It’s J-a-c-k-i-e Peterson, P-e-t-e-r-s-o-n. Kelly: I’d love to know more about yourself and how you […]

Jackie Peterson is an independent curator and exhibit developer in Seattle, Washington. She curated an exhibition called “The Atomic Frontier: Black Life at Hanford” at the Northwest African American Museum from October 2015-March 2016. In this interview, Peterson describes the exhibition and what she learned about African American experiences at Hanford during the Manhattan Project. […]

Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly. It is May 15, 2018, and I’m on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. I have with me Phillip Broughton. My first question for him is to say his name correctly and spell it. Phillip Broughton: My name is Phillip Broughton, it’s P-h-i-l-l-i-p B-r-o-u-g-h-t-o-n. I am a […]

Phillip Broughton is a health physicist and Deputy Laser Safety Officer at University of California Berkeley. In this interview, he describes how he became a health physicist and the kind of work he does at Berkeley. He provides an overview of the buildings at Berkeley where Manhattan Project scientists worked during the war, and discusses […]

Alexandra Levy: I’m Alexandra Levy with the Atomic Heritage Foundation. I’m here on September 13, 2018 in Chantilly, Virginia with Norris Jernigan. My first question is for you to please say your name and to spell it. Norris Jernigan: Okay. I’m Norris Jernigan. That’s N-O-R-R-I-S. Jernigan is J-E-R-N-I-G-A-N. You would be surprised how some people pronounce it. […]

Bill Wilcox: My name is Bill Wilcox. William J. Wilcox, Jr. Cindy Kelly: And how do you spell Wilcox? Wilcox: W-I-L-C-O-X. Kelly: Why was Oak Ridge chosen for the Manhattan Project? Wilcox: It was one of the first actions of the new Manhattan Project, under Colonel [James] Marshall in the early summer of 1942. They started […]

Cindy Kelly: I am Cindy Kelly. This is Washington, D.C. It is Friday, March 16, 2018. I have with me Tony Essaye. I would like to have Tony say his full name and spell it. Tony Essaye: Anthony F. Essaye, E-S-S-A-Y-E. It’s like what you write in an exam, except it has an E on the […]

Cindy Kelly: The next speaker is John Adams, who is a composer, as you all know, and composed most recently an opera about the Manhattan Project, “Doctor Atomic,” which opened in San Francisco last October [2005]. We are absolutely thrilled to have him here, as an artist who has grappled with the deeper meanings and expressed […]