Purpose: NAAV is interested in developing a list of archives and papers of atomic veterans. If you or someone you know deposited your photos, letters, albums, and notes with a library, archive, or historical society, we would like to know your name, when you served, what tests you participated in, and the name and website and/or address of the institution where your deposited your papers. NAAV will be honored to add your information to the list below.
What to do: Write up a few sentences using the example of the Alameda Naval Air Museum below and send to karen.boschcobb@icloud.com. If you have questions email her your phone number and she will call you. Karen is the widow of Michael Cobb who served on Christmas Island in 1962.
List of Atomic Veteran Resources and Archives
Alameda Naval Air Museum – Roz Brown, atomic veteran and squadron reunion organizer, deposited records for VP 872 in this museum. The collection has minutes and photos from VP-872 reunions, and photos and other documents from V-872 squadron members. There are also some artifacts from the squadron and Christmas Island (Kiritimati).
http://alamedanavalairmuseum.org/experience-history-of-naval-air-station/visitor-information/
Atomic Heritage Foundation – The mission of this foundation is to preserve and interpret and Manhattan Project and the Atomic Age and its legacy. The foundation has an extensive collection of oral histories, interpretive vignettes, and articles about the Manhattan Project. One the goals is to learn more the 600,000 people who worked on the Manhattan Project and add their profile.
https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/about/
Atomic Museum (National Atomic Testing Museum) – This museum focuses on the nuclear weapons testing programming at the Nevada Test Site. Its collections-based exhibits and learning activities cover 70 years of nuclear testing.
https://www.atomicmuseum.vegas/
Manhattan Project: National Historical Park NM, WA, TN – There are museums in three atomic cities. There are five museums in Oak Ridge which tell the story of the “secret city” and the K-25 complex.
https://www.nps.gov/mapr/planyourvisit/oakridge-museums.htm
Nevada National Nuclear Testing Archive – An archive of over 386,00 documents available to the public. 346,00 deal with the U.S> nuclear testing program, and 40,00 are related to Human Radiation Experiments. The bibliographic information for the collection at the Nuclear Testing Archive can be accessed through OpenNet, the DOE’s bibliographic database containing declassified and publicly available documents.
https://nnss.gov/nuclear-testing-archive/
Tufts Archival Research Center: Atomic Veterans Record – “The Alice P. Broudy Papers on Broudy v United States (1940-2018) comprise materials collected and created by the wife of Charles A. Broudy during her effort to obtain compensation for his death in 1977, which she believed to be a result of repeated radiation exposure. Materials include government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), correspondence, memos, litigation papers, scholarly reports and articles on radiation exposure and its effects, congressional testimony, speeches, newspaper clippings, books, and audiovisual materials. Also included are photographs, slides, and one box of Alice “Pat” Broudy’s personal papers. There are two boxes of papers that remain unprocessed.”
https://archives.tufts.edu/repositories/2/resources/287
University of California, F. Lincoln Grahlfs papers, 1990-1995 – Lincoln Grahfs participated in Operation Crossroads in 1946. The UC collection consists of questionnaires that Grahlfs circulated to American military veterans, asking about their exposure to radiation. The information he gathered was used for his PhD dissertation and a subsequent book. Contact UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library for more information.
University of Michigan – Lincoln Grahlfs participated in Crossroads on the Bikini Atoll in 1946. In 1995 he wrote a PhD dissertation, “Voices from ground zero: Recollections and feelings of nuclear test veterans after four decades.”. Online use is restricted to University of Michigan users.
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/104468
University of Nevada Las Vegas – “The Alice P. Broudy Papers on Broudy v United States (1940-2018) comprise materials collected and created by the wife of Charles A. Broudy during her effort to obtain compensation for his death in 1977, which she believed to be a result of repeated radiation exposure. Materials include government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), correspondence, memos, litigation papers, scholarly reports and articles on radiation exposure and its effects, congressional testimony, speeches, newspaper clippings, books, and audiovisual materials. Also included are photographs, slides, and one box of Alice “Pat” Broudy’s personal papers. There are two boxes of papers that remain unprocessed.”
https://www.library.unlv.edu/2014/11/honoring-atomic-veterans-alice-p-broudy-papers.html