Dr. Leonard P. Schultz's Log of Operation Crossroads Page 1

Summary

In this first page of his log on Operation Crossroads to the Marshall Islands, Leonard P. Schultz details the beginnings of the operation. He notes that the trip "came up very suddenly," and that as such it was a "mad scramble to get a collecting outfit together and ready" in time. He discusses some of the preparations and supplies required, including the acquisition of large amounts of cubé root and formalin. Having departed for the project on February 13, he explains that "all transportation and subsistence are to be taken care of by the United States Navy."

Subject

• United States Navy
• United States National Museum
• National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

• Leonard Peter Schultz served as assistant curator of fishes from 1936 to 1938, when he was named curator-in-charge of the Division of Fishes, a position he held until 1965. 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: 1

Contact information

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

Date

1946

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

• Curators
• Scientific expeditions
• Atomic Bomb Tests
• Oceans
• Employees
• Field Notes
• Nuclear weapons
• Fishes
• Collectors and collecting
• Smithsonian Institution
• Personnel management
• Explorations and Expeditions
• Scientists
• Shipment of goods
• Testing
• Operation Crossroads, Marshall Islands, 1946/1947
• Nuclear weapons--Testing
• Oceanography
• Smithsonian Institution--Employees

Place

Marshall Islands

Form/Genre

• Document
• Paper

ID Number

SIA2010-0895

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Color; Size: 5w x 7.25h; Type of Image: Document; Medium: Paper

Full Record

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