109 East Palace

by Jennet Conant

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  INTERVIEWS

  Beverly Agnew

  Harold Agnew

  Ethel Ballen

  Samuel L. Ballen

  Shirley Barnett

  Hans Bethe

  Rose Bethe

  Hugh Bradner

  Marjorie Bradner

  Kathleen D. Church

  Ellen P. Conant

  Theodore R. Conant

  Becky Bradford Diven

  Ben Diven

  Priscilla Greene Duffield

  Bill E. Hudgins

  Elaine Kistiakowsky

  Betty Lilienthal

  Anne Wilson Marks

  Kevin McKibbin

  Emily Morrison

  Philip Morrison

  Peter Oppenheimer

  Ellen Bradbury Reid

  James Scarritt

  Marguerite Schreiber

  Sharon Snyder

  Ralph C. Sparks

  Edward Teller

  Françoise Ulam

  Jane Wilson

  Nancy Meem Wirth

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Mark Twain once wrote that “the only difference between fiction and nonfiction is that fiction should be completely believable.” I am indebted to countless people for helping me to document the incredible story of Los Alamos and to recapture the unbelievable optimism, loyalty, and dedication of the men and women who put their lives on hold and followed Robert Oppenheimer to that isolated mountaintop in New Mexico. I am most grateful to Kevin McKibbin for sharing with me his memories of his mother and their adventures on the Hill, and for kindly granting me access to her unpublished biography, letters, and photographs. His guided tour of the plaza and 109 East Palace, and detailed descriptions of Bandelier Monument, Los Alamos, and old Santa Fe, evoked the magical colors, sounds, and smells of New Mexico. I would also like to thank Robert Oppenheimer’s son, Peter, for taking the time to talk to me and help fill in some personal details of his father’s life.

  It is impossible to acknowledge adequately the help I received from Robert Oppenheimer’s three wartime secretaries, who generously provided their personal stories, recollections, and photographs, and patiently fielded my repeated calls and hundreds of questions. Priscilla Greene Duffield, Shirley Barnett, and Anne Wilson Marks are among the most astute and witty observers of people and events it has ever been my privilege to encounter. They brought the contradictions and complex relationships of Los Alamos to life—the altitude and awful mud, the exhilarating company and insidious shadow of security, and the endlessly intriguing and seductive leader who made it all possible, Robert Oppenheimer. Without them this book would not have been possible.

  I would like to express my gratitude to the following for giving generously of their time and, in many cases, their hospitality: Beverly and Harold Agnew, Ethel and Samuel Ballen, Rose and Hans Bethe, Marjorie and Hugh Bradner, Becky and Ben Diven, Bill E. Hudgins, Elaine Kistiakowsky, Betty Lilienthal, Emily and Philip Morrison, James Scarritt, Marguerite Schreiber, Ralph C. Sparks, Françoise Ulam, and Jane Wilson. Only a few months before he passed away, the late Edward Teller, who was blind and bound to a wheelchair, was gracious enough to grant me an audience. Although we disagreed about many things, I will never forget his passion for science or his pain at the memory of his “falling out with Oppie.”

  For access to the Los Alamos photographs, records, and related material, and their assistance over many years, I would like to thank Roger Meade and Linda Sandoval at the Los Alamos National Laboratory archive and Rebecca Collinsworth at the Los Alamos Historical Museum.

  In the writing of this book, I am greatly indebted to Kristine Dahl, my literary agent, who has been of inestimable help as a sounding board and critic from the beginning, and to Barbara Kantrowitz, my friend and fellow writer, for her insight into this world and comments on the work in progress. I also benefited enormously from my continued collaboration with Ruth Tenenbaum, whose research skills and ingenuity greatly facilitated the long and arduous process of combing through archives for relevant material, unearthing forgotten interviews and misplaced documents, and tracking down the most obscure facts.

  Too many friends offered encouragement and assistance along the way to name here, but the following were especially helpful: Marilyn Berger, Don Hewitt, Toni Goodale, Peter Jennings, and Linda Sylvester. Cavelle Sukhai is the miracle in my family’s life that makes everything work. Above all, I would like to thank Perri Peltz for her unstinting enthusiasm and support. She was my champion on the first book and on this one, and I can hardly express my gratitude.

  I must single out Alice Mayhew, my extraordinary editor, who immediately understood and embraced the idea of my writing about wartime Los Alamos and offered invaluable suggestions and guidance. Her wisdom, eye for detail, and concern for accuracy are reflected in these pages. At Simon & Schuster, I must also acknowledge the care and attention of Roger Labrie.

  I deeply appreciate the assistance of my parents, Ellen and Theodore Conant, who loaned family books and papers, provided information, and confirmed past conversations with my grandfather, James B. Conant, and his feelings about many of the people and incidents in this book.

  And finally, for their love and unfailing support, I owe a very special thanks to my husband, Steve Kroft, and son, John. They were forgiving of my absent-mindedness, impaired domestic skills, and prolonged monopolization of the dining room table. I adore them both, and am forever grateful.

  PHOTO CREDITS

  AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Segrè Collection: 16

  Photograph by Ken Bainbridge, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Bainbridge Collection

  Photograph by John P. Miller, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Segrè Collection

  Photograph by Emilio Segrè, AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Segrè Collection

  Courtesy Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

  Courtesy Laura Gilpin Collection, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

  Shirley Barnett

  Children of the Manhattan Project (www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org)

  Patricia Duffield

  Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives

  Alexander Lowry, Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives

  Time-Life Pictures/Getty Images

  Courtesy of Hagley Museum and Library

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  JENNET CONANT is the author of The New York Times bestseller Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II. A former journalist, she has written profiles for Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, Newsweek, and The New
York Times. She lives in New York City and Sag Harbor, New York.

  Dorothy with her husband, Joseph McKibbin, and baby, Kevin, shortly after his birth on December 6, 1930. Before Kevin was a year old, Joe McKibbin died of Hodgkin’s disease. In spring 1932, the young widow packed up her belongings and baby and moved to Santa Fe, where she built a rustic adobe farmhouse.

  When Robert Oppenheimer arrived in Santa Fe in March 1943, the Los Alamos Ranch School had been closed by the War Department and three thousand army engineers had turned it into a muddy construction site. The arriving physicists were appalled by the steep, twisting dirt road up the mountain and by the narrow Otowi Bridge, which was “too fragile” for heavy trucks.

  No one could go to Los Alamos without first reporting to 109 East Palace, the small Santa Fe office that was a front for the classified laboratory (below). Dorothy’s job was to issue the security passes that had to be presented at the Main Gate (left) before anyone was permitted to enter the heavily guarded site.

  General Leslie R. Groves (left) ran Los Alamos as a “no frills” military post, while Robert Oppenheimer fought to preserve a few civilizing touches.

  Security at Los Alamos was designed to keep information and personnel from getting out. Military police patrolled the barbed-wire perimeter twenty-four hours a day, and the elaborate inspection process required for coming and going became the bane of the scientists’ and their families’ existence. Within the barbed wire fence penning the Tech Area (below) lay “the most secret part of the atomic bomb project.”

  Los Alamos looked like a frontier boom town with row upon row of prefabricated apartment complexes all painted o.d.—“olive drab.” The old school trading post (below) sold an odd assortment of supplies, including little boys T-shirts and moccasins. The wooden water tower was the only landmark by which newcomers could orient themselves among the maze of unnamed streets.