Manhattan Project, 1982
A Guide to the Collection of Oral History Interviews at Indiana University
Bloomington
Finding aid prepared by the staff of the Center for
the Study of History and Memory with a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities Division of Preservation and Access, 2000-2002
Overview of the Collection
Repository
Indiana University Center for Documentary Research and Practice
Indiana University
Franklin Hall 0030B
601 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: 812/855-2856
Fax: 812/855-0002
E-mail: ohrc@indiana.edu
https://cdrp.mediaschool.indiana.edu
Creator
Indiana University Center for the
Study of History and Memory
TitleManhattan Project, 1982
Project No.
ohrc076
Interviews
2 interviews. Audiotapes, transcripts, and collateral
materials.
Physical Location
Interviews are housed in Franklin Hall, Room 0030B. Copies of interview transcripts are also held by the IU Libraries University
Archives.
Contact archives@indiana.edu for more information. For other locations housing the interviews
from this project, please contact the Center for Documentary Research and Practice office.
Language
Materials are in English
Abstract
These two interviews provide a close look at the research
conducted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory during World War II. The
interviewees are both former physics professors at Indiana University who were
heavily involved with the Manhattan Project. They reveal the circumstances
surrounding their involvement and discuss the Los Alamos Laboratory in detail
including many of the personalities present, such as Robert Oppenheimer and
Edward Teller.
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains two interviews conducted over one month. The interviews are 100 and 105 minutes respectively. Both
interviews consist of audio tapes and typed transcripts.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Oral history interviews conducted by the Indiana University Center for the
Study of History and Memory from 1968 to the present, with particular focus on the
history of twentieth-century America and the Midwest.
Usage Restrictions
The archive of the Center for Documentary Research and Practice at Indiana University is open
to the use of researchers. Copies of transcript pages are available only when such copies
are permitted by the deed of gift. Scholars must honor any
restrictions the interviewee placed on the use of the interview. Since some of our earlier
(pre-computer) transcripts do not exist in final form, any editing marks in a transcript
(deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked. Audio files may not be copied for
patrons unless the deed of gift permits it, and a transcript is unavailable for that
interview. The same rules of use that apply to a transcript apply to the audio interview.
Interviews may not be reproduced in full for any public use, but excerpted quotes may be
used as long as researchers fully cite the data in their research, including accession
number, interview date, interviewee's and interviewer's name, and page(s).
Preferred Citation
[interviewee first name last name] interview, by [interviewer first name last
name], [interview date(s)], [call number], [project name], Center for Documentary Research and Practice, Indiana University,
Bloomington, [page number(s) or tape
number and side if no transcript; if digital audio and no transcript, cite time when quote occurs].
Interview List
Interviewee
Konopinski, Emil Jan
September 7,
1982
Call Number
82-061
Physical Description
39 pages; 2 tapes, 1 7/8 ips, 105 minutes; no
index
Interviewer
Sellers, Vincent
Access Status
Open
Scope and Content Note
Emil Konopinksi, born in Michigan City, Indiana in 1911,
discusses his involvement with the Manhattan Project during World War II. He
begins by speaking of his early education and how he came to Indiana University
as a physics professor. He explains how the committee in Los Alamos came to be
and reflects on some of the personalities working to build the atom and
hydrogen bombs. Dr. Konopinski reveals his major contributions to the project,
such as the development of the first hydrogen bomb and his grasp of scientific
theory. He reflects on how the war has changed physics and comments on the
nuclear arms race.
-
Keywords
-
-
Corporation Names
- Atomic Energy Commission
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
-
-
Occupation Names
- nuclear physicist
- physics professor
-
-
Personal Names
- Bethe, Hans
- Compton, Arthur
- Fermi, Enrico
- Fuchs, Klaus
- Oppenheimer, Julius Robert
- Serber, Robert
- Teller, Edward
-
-
Place Names
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
-
-
Subjects
- astrophysics
- atomic bomb
- hydrogen bomb
- laboratory security
- nuclear arms race
- nuclear theory
- World War II
Interviewee
Langer, Lawrence M.
August 25,
1982
Call Number
82-060
Physical Description
35 pages; 2 tapes, 1 7/8 ips, 100 minutes; no
index
Interviewer
Sellers, Vincent
Access Status
Open
Scope and Content Note
Lawrence Langer, born in 1913 and a former physics professor at
Indiana University, discusses his involvement building the Hiroshima atomic
bomb. He talks about completing his schooling during the Great Depression and
the circumstances surrounding his arrival at Indiana University. Dr. Langer
reflects on his contribution to the Manhattan Project as an experimental
physicist.
-
Keywords
-
-
Corporation Names
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
-
-
Occupation Names
- experimental physicist
- physics professor
-
-
Personal Names
- Alvarez, Luis
- Fermi, Enrico
- Konopinski, Emil Jan
- Mitchell, Alan
- Oppenheimer, Julius Robert
-
-
-
Subjects
- cyclotron
-
Enola Gay
- Great Depression
- Hiroshima bomb
- Nagasaki bomb
- World War II
