Suggestions for disposition of Manhattan Project Materials

[garbs]

Not directly Aviation related, but there is a connection. My uncle was pulled out of a Machine Gun infantry unit at Camp White, OR in 1942 and sent to Purdue for some training and then on to Oak Ridge, TN to synthesize plutonium for the Manhattan Project. He passed away this past January at the age of 97, and I am looking for suggestions on an entity that would preserve and possibly display some of this things (uniform, photos, printed matter, and letters home, for example). I contacted the AMSE in Oak Ridge (https://amse.org), but they must be pretty flush with this kind of thing as they referred me to a museum in East Tennessee (which doesn't seem to have any Manhattan Project connections).

I had also heard that Doc's friends were considering a Manhattan Project display, but got no response to my first contact email - I may have hit the wrong person. A couple of his unit patches are below:



Patch on the right is from the 8460th Special Weapons Group and the one on the left is from Army Specialized Training. Not sure about the middle one - neither was he!

Does anyone have any ideas? Please PM me if you have contact info for someone I should call.

Thanks;

[Jerry O'Neill]

The center one is the type worn by Civilians working for the military. ie; Field Rep, Tech Rep etc. from private companies either in a direct work capacity or as a consultant. There were different versions and titles, but al had that triangle with the U.S. in the middle.

Perhaps the Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, NM might be interested?

[garbs]

Thanks - he was a Tech-4 until war’s end and stayed on to work at Monsanto through 1946.

[Forgotten Field]

Good question, with lots of twists and turns to keep people entertained. Some recommendations:

1. Carefully inventory and photograph the items. Also, document any information you have regarding them- this includes official documentation of his service history, but don't forget that you are a primary resource to relay stories he told you. Write as much down as you can recall and document from the paper you have, print it, date it, and sign it. This serves as the administrative documentation of the collection and will be useful later (I'll mention more below).

2. Expose the collection as widely as possible. Posting here is a good idea, but also try at places like www.usmilitariaforum.com and other Facebook and public media groups. As you have already encountered, public museums are chronically short of money, space, and proper receptacles of archives like you have, even if they specialize in a related specific subject matter. But the good thing is that there are many, many museums with rotating displays. The dawn of the atomic age was no small event, and there were thousands of personnel and institutions which participated in the Manhattan Project. At some point, some place connected to this history will want a display. You just need to find that entity.

3. The next piece of advice is going to sound harsh, but be very protective of these artifacts and highly critical of any group which approaches you to handle them. What that means is, don't let them out of your sight or into the possession of another person/entity without solidsubstantiation that the entity will care for the items.
Do not place them on display anywhere publicly without a loan agreement. This can be simple and complicated at the same time. First, the agreement should be renewable each year, no matter the interval specified for display. Make sure that you keep careful track of the operations of the museum; for example, it is a good idea to join as a member (or stipulate that as part of the loan agreement) so you receive official communications from the museum. No matter if it is a local, municipal, state, federal or private museum, there is a very high turnover rate of personnel in these organizations. The person with whom you sign a loan agreement may not be there 8 months from when it is signed. Then, you really need to update the loan agreement to reflect the new responsible personnel within the organization who are tasked with executing the loan agreement. I can supply you with advice on loan agreements, but be prepared for an earful of anecdotal stories about how they can go wrong. The inventory and photographs are an integral part of any loan agreement.

4. Donation as an option. First thing to know about this is that you are responsible for appraisal of the items in order to receive tax considerations for donating them. The issue with donations is that in most cases, museums require unconditional donations. This means they can do what they want with the item to include de-accessioning the item (selling it) and you have no control over it. Most museums will not accept conditional donations- it is too hard for them to deal with later consequences of dis-satisfied customers, so they generally avoid them. Once again, the inventory and photographs are important because they are part of a proper appraisal.

5. Private sales. While there will be a hue and cry from people who say such things are priceless, there is plenty of evidence on ebay and real auction houses in the US and abroad to disprove them. Privately selling your items to a collector who values the items can and should be a consideration.

Hope this helps!

[ALOHADAVE]

I also recommend the Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, NM

[garbs]

Thanks all for the info. Here is an example of what we are finding - check the date on the postmark. I realize that hundreds/thousands of Wixers have the similar family histories so I won't dump it all here.

[Left Seat]

My uncle was pulled out of a Machine Gun infantry unit at Camp White, OR in 1942

Since he trained at Camp White, why not contact the Camp White Military Museum https://www.southernoregon.va.gov/features/From_History_Makers_to_History_Keepers.asp?

“The most important thing is the people who trained here”. “Everything else is secondary.” -Al Inlow, Museum Curator.
"Everyone who works at the museum does so out of nothing more than their commitment to the memory of the Veterans who passed through Camp White."

It is a nifty little museum. I highly recommend it.

[Xrayist]

My dad worked for the security service at Los Alamos from 1947-1950. They have a very nice museum up there that you might consider. I asked my dad if he had any of his old uniforms, patches, ID's, etc. from his time up there and he told me that when they left they were required to turn in everything that was issued to them, or give ironclad proof as to why something was missing. His group held reunions up there for over 50 years. I went with him and my mom (that is where they both worked and met) for the 50th in 1997.

[Zachary]

We have a Fat Man atomic bomb casing on display in our Eagle Hangar at the EAA Aviation Museum. I would love to add more "personal" artifacts to the display at some point. With that in mind, we'd be interested in the items if you would ever consider donating them or loaning them long-term. We'd love to help tell your uncle's story. I can be reached at zbaughman@eaa.org if you'd like to discuss.

Cheers,
Zack