Operation Crossroads Correspondence from Dr. Leonard P. Schultz to Dr. Alexander Wetmore Written July 7, 1946

Summary

A letter to Dr. Alexander Wetmore, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, from Dr. Leonard P. Schultz summarizing his work since the report on collections made at Eniwetok Atoll on June 12. Dr. Schultz briefly describes the lot of fish specimens that he will send to the United States National Museum in a few days' time and gives a cursory summary of the chronology of his work from June 12 to July 7, mentioning various travels and collecting activities, his work with Life Magazine Photographer, Mr. Goro, and the arrival and training of Capt. Earl S. Herald, who will be taking over Dr. Schultz's field work while he returns to the U.S. National Museum. Dr. Schultz also describes his experience of the A-bomb or Able test (a nuclear weapons test) on July 1, 1946, mentioning the procedure for watching the test, and then describing in detail what he saw of the explosion from a boat 20 miles off Bikini.

Subject

• Wetmore, Alexander 1886-
• Goro, Fritz
• Herald, Earl S
• National Collections
• Life (Chicago, Ill.)
• United States Navy

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

• A 2-page letter to Dr. Alexander Wetmore from Dr. Leonard P. Schultz, . The Operation Crossroads was an expedition to Bikini and the northern Marshall Islands in 1946 under the auspices of the Department of the Navy. Schultz. Curator of Fishes at the National Museum of Natural History, was in charge of the biological investigation of the reef fishes in the area. His investigations centered on the relative abundance of fauna before and after the atom bomb tests. Specimens were collected for the purpose of comparison and to make possible a study of anatomical variations among the various island fish populations.
• See Neg. #s for Operation Crossroads 1946: 91-6345, SIA2010-0896, SIA2010-0897, SIA2010-0898, SIA2010-0899, SIA2010-0900, SIA2010-0901, SIA2010-0902, SIA2010-0903, SIA2010-0904, SIA2010-0905, SIA2010-0906, SIA2010-0907, SIA2010-0908, SIA2010-0922, SIA2010-0923, SIA2010-0973, SIA2010-0974

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7222, Box 23, Folder: 4

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

July 7, 1946

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

• Scientific expeditions
• Atomic Bomb Tests
• Oceans
• Letters
• Secretaries
• Employees
• Nuclear weapons
• Fishes
• Collectors and collecting
• Smithsonian Institution
• Personnel management
• Explorations and Expeditions
• Periodicals
• Scientists
• Testing
• Operation Crossroads, Marshall Islands, 1946/1947
• Nuclear weapons--Testing
• Oceanography
• Smithsonian Institution--Employees

Place

• Marshall Islands
• Rongelap Atoll (Marshall Islands)
• Bikini Atoll (Marshall Islands)

Form/Genre

• Paper
• Document

ID Number

SIA2010-0922 and SIA2010-0923

Physical description

Number of Images: 2; Color: Color; Size: 8w x 10.5h; Type of Image: Document; Medium: Paper

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