AHF is very grateful to our summer interns for their outstanding work. Our team included Jack McAuliffe, a rising junior at Yale University; Joseph O’Connor (Connor) Gill, a rising senior at George Washington University; and Simon Mairson, a recent graduate of Georgetown University now continuing his studies in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
This summer, Jack, Connor, and Simon researched and wrote more than 20 new articles for AHF’s website on the history and impacts of the Manhattan Project, the Cold War, and nuclear proliferation. Some of the articles describe:
- Uranium mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the American Southwest during the Manhattan Project and Cold War and its ongoing legacies.
- Communities affected by nuclear testing, including the Nevada Test Site Downwinders and the Tularosa Basin Downwinders. Later this year, we will publish an article on the Hanford Downwinders.
- The history of the opera “Doctor Atomic,” which was memorably performed at the Santa Fe Opera this summer.
- How museums, theater, and design have chosen to represent the Atomic Age.
- The nuclear programs of the so-called “Second Nuclear Age,” including China, Pakistan, India, Israel, and South Africa’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons. (Pictured, left: A 1960 Israeli stamp commemorating an American “Atoms for Peace” reactor). The articles link to profiles of leading figures from each program, such as Qian Sanqiang, Ernst David Bergmann, and A. Q. Khan.
Going forward, AHF will build on Simon, Connor, and Jack’s work to develop additional educational resources on the history of the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Age. We are currently seeking to raise funds to produce new articles, lesson plans, and educational videos that can be used by middle and high school students and teachers. We welcome your support for this effort and your suggestions for other topics we should cover on our website.