Atomic Pioneers Part II: Eleanor's Story
A continuation of a adventurous woman's experience, in her own words
This is Part II in a series of posts reproducing Eleanor Ewing Erlich’s personal journal (courtesy of her daughter, Joan Kerby). In part I, Eleanor recounted a bit of her background and what led her to be recruited by her friend, Naomi Livesay, to “come to New Mexico to help her,” for unspecified purpose. The narrative began with a postwar visit to
Eleanor’s home by FBI agents investigating Klaus Fuchs, who was declared to be a spy, and concluded with her strange cross-country trip to New Mexico, where she was picked up by Livesay at the Lamy train station.
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She [Naomi Livesay] shushed me at lunch when I began [asking] questions. After picking up my pass at 109 East Palace Avenue, we started the drive up to the Mesa. I had begun life in the cornland of Illinois, moved on to greenery of Connecticut, and here I was in the desert on a mesa top in what seemed an army base. I had visited Chanute Field near Urbana, Illinois, so I knew what a military base looked like.
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Our first stop was at the Tech Area – more guards, gates, high wire fence. Naomi left me in a small office and went for Stan and Eldred. I was shocked by Stan’s informality. He sat cross-legged on top of the desk and announced that I was on the mesa to make an atomic bomb. The 7,500 feet altitude was affecting me. I was tired from the train ride and all the harassment from the troops. I knew nothing about bombs, and failed at that moment to remember what an atom was. It never occurred to me that I was going to have help. I thought I had to do the whole thing by myself.
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