The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Charles D. Coryell Papers 1945-1959
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Coryell, Charles D. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1945-1959 |
| Size: | 2 linear feet (4 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Charles D. Coryell, Chief of the Fission Products Section of the Manhattan Project. The Charles D. Coryell Papers consist of material the socio-political questions that consumed scientists after the unleashing of the atom, especially arms control and nuclear disposal. The materials in the papers include correspondence, periodicals, articles, and other items related to the atomic age. |
No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Coryell, Charles D. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Noted for his studies on fission process, Charles D. Coryell (1912-1971) left M.I.T. in 1942 to become Chief of the Fission Products Section of the Manhattan Project, first at the University of Chicago (1942-1946) and later, at Clinton Laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (1943-1946). The studies of J.A. Marinsky and L.E. Glendenin in his group led to the chemical identification of element 61, promethium. With Dr. Nathan Sugarman, Dr. Coryell was co-editor of a volume of 336 research papers from the wartime work of the Manhattan Project titled Radiochemical Studies: The Fission Projects. He returned to M.I.T. after the war, where he continued his investigations in fission fine-structure and beta decay theory until his death in 1971. In 1954, Coryell received the Louis Lipsky Fellowship at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovoth, Israel.
The Coryell papers contain little material relevant to his work in nuclear and magnetochemistry. Instead these papers reflect the socio-political questions that consumed scientists after the unleashing of the atom, especially arms control and nuclear disposal. These problems are discussed pointedly in Coryell's correspondence and figure prominently in speeches and reports found in his files. Coryell corresponded with many congressional members and wrote to Robert Oppenheimer and President Kennedy. Of particular interest among Coryell's correspondence are his letters to Linus Pauling and those relating to the investigation into Pauling's loyalty to the U.S. government. The same themes are echoed in the letters and reports from scientific and quasi-political organizations with which Coryell was associated, as he and his associates grappled with the moral implications of the bomb.
The Charles D. Coryell papers were given to the University of Chicago Library in 1971 by Mrs. Alberta Wyluda, Coryell's secretary of many years. Related material may be found in the Papers of the Federation of American Scientists, the Association of Oak Ridge Engineers and Scientists, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
Series I: Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Bohr, Niels |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Burgum, Edwin B. |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | De Vault, Don C. |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Dyck, A. W. J. |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Gaffron, Hans |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Jehle, Herbert |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Lapp, Dr. Ralph E. |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Lattimore, Owen |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Lehac, Ned; Lower Cape Committee on Radioactive Waste Disposal |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Oppenheimer, Dr. J. Robert |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Pauling, Linus, 1942-1957 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | Pauling, June-July, 1960 |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Pauling, August, 1960 |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | Pauling, September, 1960 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | Pauling, October, 1960-March 1968 |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | Swartout, Dr. John A. |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | Wallace, Henry Agard |
| Box 1 Folder 18 | Yost, Don M., 1945-1953 |
| Box 1 Folder 19 | Yost, 1954-1963; undated |
| Box 1 Folder 20 | Young, Dr. Hoylande D. |
| Box 1 Folder 21 | Congress, U.S.: Members, Clason-Knowland |
| Box 1 Folder 22 | Congress, Lehman-Morse |
| Box 1 Folder 23 | Congress, Norris-Wood |
| Box 1 Folder 24 | Students, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel |
| Box 1 Folder 25 |
|
Series II: Issues |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Arms Control publications, 1946-1955 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Arms Control, Senate Foreign Relations, speeches and reports 1956-May 1960 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Arms Control, June 1960 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Arms Control, July-August 1960 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Arms Control, 1961-1962; undated; press clippings |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Guggenheim Fellowships |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Loyalty and Security |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | National Research Council Fellowships |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Politics, 1947-1959
|
| Box 2 Folder 10 | Misc. Politics, 1960-1961
|
| Box 2 Folder 11 | Politics, 1962-1965; undated
|
| Box 2 Folder 12 | Sobell Case |
Series III: Organizations |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Association of Oak Ridge Engineers and Scientists (AORES), 1945-1946
|
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Association of Oak Ridge Engineers and Scientists (AORES), 1947-1948; n.d. |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Correspondence and Brochures,1945-1957
|
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1945-1951
|
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1952
|
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1953-1959
|
| Box 3 Folder 8 | Federation of American Scientists, Greater Boston Chapter |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | Federation of American Scientists, Scientists' Committee on Loyalty Problems, 1948
|
| Box 3 Folder 10 | Federation of American Scientists, Scientists' Committee on Loyalty Problems, 1949-1951 |
| Box 3 Folder 11 | Conferences on Science and World Affairs (PUGWASH) |
| Box 3 Folder 12 | SANE, February-June, 1960
|
| Box 3 Folder 13 | SANE, July-August, 1960
|
| Box 3 Folder 14 | SANE, September-December, 1960; n.d.
|
| Box 3 Folder 15 | SANE, 1961 |
| Box 3 Folder 16 | United World Federalists, 1947-1959, Correspondence |
Series IV: Addenda |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Correspondence
|
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Christian Science Monitor |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | "Evaluation of Shell Effects in the Nuclear Energy Surface," by Coryell |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | Press, Newspaper clippings |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | Radio Program: Shall we Share our Atomic Secrets |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Newspaper clippings |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Newspaper clippings |