Manhattan Project: A Living Legacy

Symposium on the Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort during World War II to develop the atomic bomb, was one of the most significant developments of the twentieth century and left an indelible legacy. Forged during the war, an unprecedented alliance among industry, academia and government soon catapulted American science and technology to world preeminence. Manhattan Project veterans, eminent historians and writers, current and former government officials, and other experts will convene at a Symposium on the Manhattan Project in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 27, 2002. The conferees will examine how the Manhattan Project succeeded in harnessing the energy of the atom—in just 27 months---and what lessons might be learned from it.

The Atomic Heritage Foundation, in conjunction with the Save America’s Treasures at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, will present the Symposium from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM, on April 27, 2002, at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1530 P Street, NW, Washington, D.C. A reception will follow. For more details, see http://www.atomicheritage.org.

Manhattan Project veterans who will contribute their reflections include Nobel Prize-winner Jerome Karle, Isabella Karle, Maurice Shapiro, Benjamin Bederson and Arnold Kramish. Leading historians participating in the Symposium include Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb; G. Pascal Zachary, author of Endless Frontier, a biography of Vannevar Bush; James G. Hershberg, author of James B. Conant; Robert S. Norris, author of the forthcoming book, Racing for the Bomb: General Leslie R. Groves, the Manhattan Project’s Indispensable Man; Andrew Brown, author of The Neutron and the Bomb, a biography of Sir James Chadwick; Gregg Herken, author of the forthcoming book, Brotherhood of the Bomb: A Tale of Science, Power, and Loyalty; and Bill Lanouette, author of A Genius in the Shadows about Leo Szilard. These authors will be available for book signing during the reception.

The president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington Maxine Singer, Director of the Defense Target Reduction Agency Stephen M. Younger, Richard Garwin, adjunct professor of physics at Columbia and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relation, and Richard Rhodes will also provide their views on the lessons of the Manhattan Project for meeting today’s national security challenges.

Proceeds from the Symposium will be used to match a federal Save America’s Treasures challenge grant to preserve some of the Manhattan Project properties and history at Los Alamos, New Mexico. For further information, please see the web site at http://www.atomicheritage.org.

TICKETS TO THE SYMPOSIUM AND RECEPTION

The latest agenda and tickets to the Symposium on the Manhattan Project and following reception are available on-line at http://www.atomicheritage.org. Go to the page for the “Symposium for the Manhattan Project” for the latest agenda. For tickets, go to “Reservations and Contributions” and click to be connected to the catalog.com site for ordering the tickets. If this site is not working, please send an e:mail to cindykelly@erols.com or call 202-686-4069 for further information. Ticket options are as follows:

Angel Ticket--$125. This ticket includes an exclusive lunch at the Carnegie Institution’s library with the program speakers as well as reserved seats for the program and reception following the program. These tickets are limited.
Program Ticket--$25. This ticket is for admission to the program on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Carnegie Institution. If needed, overflow seating will be provided in a nearby auditorium.
Reception Ticket--$25. This ticket is for the reception following the program at the Carnegie Institution of Washington where participants will enjoy a chance to view the Carnegie’s Centennial exhibit as well as purchase and have their books signed by the authors participating in the program. The reception will serve food prepared by the Chef of the Hungarian Embassy in honor of the Hungarian émigrés who were instrumental in the Manhattan Project (e.g., Leo Szilard, Edward Teller, Johnny Von Neumann, and Eugene Wigner. Eniro Fermi referred to these brilliant Hungarian scientists as “the Martians,” based on speculation that a spaceship from Mars that dropped them all off in Budapest in the early 1900’s.)

Atomic Heritage Foundation is a nonprofit corporation recently formed in Washington, D.C., to preserve the history of the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Age for public education, commemoration, and interpretation. The immediate goal of the Foundation is to match two federal Save America’s Treasures challenge grants awarded to preserve some of the Manhattan Project properties at Los Alamos ($700,000) and the Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I) in Idaho ($320,000). For more information, please see the website at http://www.atomicheritage.org, or contact Cindy Kelly, President, Atomic Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C. at cindykelly@erols.com

Save America’s Treasures of the National Trust for Historic Preservation is dedicated to protecting “America’s threatened cultural treasures… that illuminate the history and culture of the United States.” Established by Executive Order in February 1998, Save America’s Treasures is a public-private partnership with the White House, the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Honorary Chair First Lady Laura Bush leads this effort along with co-chairs Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the noted author, Susan Eisenhower. The Symposium on the Manhattan Project will directly benefit the Save America’s Treasures project to preserve the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.

The Carnegie Institution of Washington was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1902 as an “institution of discovery.” As current President Maxine Singer wrote, the Carnegie Institution supports “exceptional individuals freely pursuing research to open new frontiers of knowledge.” The Carnegie Institution’s main building at 16th and P Street, NW was where Vannevar Bush directed the Manhattan Project. During World War II, Bush was both President of the Carnegie Institution and President Franklin Roosevelt’s Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. The Symposium will take place in the Carnegie building where attendees can enjoy the exhibit, “Our Expanding Universe,” that celebrates Carnegie’s centennial and has exhibits on Vannevar Bush.

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Contacts: Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation, 202-686-4069
Tina McDowell, Carnegie Institution, 202-939-1120
Hap Connors, SAT/National Trust for Historic Preservation, 202-588-6141

More information about these organizations may be found on their websites:

Atomic Heritage Foundation (http://www.atomicheritage.org)
Save America’s Treasures (http://www.saveamericastreasures.org)
National Trust for Historic Preservation (http://www.nationaltrust.org)
The Carnegie Institution of Washington (http://www.carnegieinstitution.org)

SYMPOSIUM ON THE MANHATTAN PROJECT:
SCIENCE IN THE SERVICE OF WAR (1939-1945)
REFLECTIONS ON THE INDIVIDUALS AND INSTITUTIONS
THAT PRODUCED THE WORLD’S FIRST ATOMIC BOMB
AND LESSONS FOR TODAY
Sponsored by
THE ATOMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION,
SAVE AMERICA’S TREASURES AT THE
NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION,
AND THE
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON

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