Atomic Pioneers Part I: Eleanor's Story

An account of life inside the Manhattan Project in wartime Los Alamos

You may know that — for many years — I’ve been studying and exhibiting the unique postal history of Los Alamos, N.M., during World War II, when it was a top-secret city. All mail was funneled through false-front “drop box” numbers with Santa Fe addresses. But mail issues aside, most people have no idea what it was like to live in a “non-existent” town for several years.

Several years ago, at an American Philatelic Society Stamp Show, I was approached by Joan Kerby and her husband, who had driven some distance to find me, having read about my exhibit. Joan’s mother, Eleanor Ewing Ehrlich, was among those atomic pioneers who worked, lived and played on “The Hill,” where she met — and married — Richard Ehrlich, one of the earliest scientists to arrive at Los Alamos. In addition to significant correspondence (from Richard to his parents), Joan presented me with an account of her mother’s experiences at Los Alamos, with the hope it would be shared some day. This is Eleanor’s fascinating story, written several years after the war ended.

Eleanor’s Story: Eleanor Ewing Ehrlich, in her own words

I would like to pay tribute to my parents, William and Sarah Ewing, and to recognize my husband, Richard Ehrlich, who shall be forever a challenging spirit.

Our children, Paul and Joan, have been an interesting experience. I trust they will think fondly of their parents – the Atomic Pioneers.

My life would not have been the same without my sisters, Marjorie, Mary Elizabeth, Jean, Dorothy and June. Uncle Jim was always my favorite uncle, Daddy’s younger brother. Uncle Jim taught me how to fly a kite, play dominoes etc. – even shoe the horse.

My high school math teacher helped me enter the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Part 1:

In the spring of 1950 I was pregnant with our daughter, Joan. The door bell rang in our second floor apartment on Balltown Road, Schenectady, New York. Two men showed me their FBI identification badges and entered the living room. Paul, age one-and-a-half, clung to the skirt of my dress and raised his arms to be held. The FBI agents had come to question me about my association with Klaus Fuchs.

I had worked near Klaus Fuchs in E Building, Los Alamos Atomic Bomb Project, from late August 1944 until February 7, 1946. I did not know when I was being questioned that Klaus Fuchs had been a spy giving atomic secrets to the Russians.

Before I left Project Y, I signed a statement that indicated if I took any documents or printed matter, memoranda, sketches, notes, etc., from the Los Alamos Laboratory, or released any classified information about the research methods or plans, the punishment was imprisonment for not more than 10 years, a $10,000 fine, or both.

After the Japanese surrendered, I had made calculations for Edward Teller’s Super Bomb on the IBM machines. Fredde Hoffman had supervised this work. Edward Teller wrote me a thank you letter, but my husband, Richard Ehrlich, burned it before we left Los Alamos.

Thoughts began to recall Klaus Fuchs. I had been on a picnic with Klaus Fuchs, Moll and Sally Flanders, Laura Farmer (Fermi) and Naomi Livesay. Klaus had just learned how to drive his car. On the Project, we used only first names – Moll, Sally, Laura, Klaus, Naomi and Eleanor. Klaus was not very good looking, I thought. He had asked me to be his partner for the waltz at the Dormitory Dances. Klaus was stiff, remote, a mechanical dancer. My office was E-112 and Klaus was in E-114. Tony Skryme, with whom I worked, was in E-114 also. They were part of the British Mission under Rudolph Peierls. Skyrme gave me a Zuni pin and wrote poetry in honor of our work.

I knew nothing. The FBI agents questioned me extensively, but finally left. When I read in the New York Times that Klaus Fuchs had been a spy for the Russians, I was shocked.

I had arrived in Lamy, New Mexico, in late August 1944 from Pratt-Whitney Aircraft, East Hartford, Connecticut. My pay rate was $250 a month. I was paid $40 for the last six working days in August 1944. I did not keep personal notes of my arrival.

Lamy, N.M., train station.

Naomi Livesay French was the individual responsible for bringing me to Los Alamos. Naomi, Richard Hamming and I were in the same office at the University of Illinois, Urbana, 1941-1943. Dick Hamming was a doctoral candidate, Naomi was an instructor and I was a mathematics teaching assistant. Dick and Naomi were very helpful and kind. I also met Dick’s wife, Wanda.

I did not like my job at Pratt-Whitney Aircraft where I was teaching girls and women in their Engineering Aid Training program mathematics and physics. The other instructors taught drafting, small tools, machine shop, etc. Mark Toby [Tobey], the American painter who died in 1976, was the drafting instructor. Once I allowed him to hypnotize me at a party at Ziolkowski’s home, but he was 52 and I was 25. He invited several of us to his studio, but at that time in my life his paintings confused me. My students were either high school or college graduates with no particular interest in mathematics. They wanted to help the War Effort. Some were widows; others had husbands or fiancés in German prison camps.