Abstract
Eric "Ted" Carlson was an engineer in the U.S. Army's Corps of Engineers Manhattan District. He worked on the Manhattan Project's atomic research during World War II before going to work for Monsanto Chemical Company. This collection includes correspondence to and from family, friends, and commanding officers, as well as college and military documents from 1944-1946.
Biographical Note
Eric "Ted" Carlson was an engineer for the U.S. Army's Manhattan Project atomic bomb from 1944 through the close of World War II in 1945. Carlson received a B.A. in Chemistry from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, with honors in February 1944. He then enrolled in graduate school at Iowa State University for chemistry in Ames, Iowa. Soon after he was called by the Selective Service to report for a physical exam. He was inducted into the U.S. Army on August 1, 1944, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
Due to his background in science, Carlson was marked by the Army Corps of Engineers during his draft and sent to the Manhattan District at the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit, Michigan. Soon after arrival, he was transferred to the enlisted reserve corps where he served as a Laboratory Engineer.
Following the end of World War II in September 1945, Carlson was recalled to active service in October at Fort Sheriden, Illinois, and sent to basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He was then sent to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where he was assigned to Monsanto Chemical Company in Dayton, Ohio.
Carlson was discharged from the military in April 1946, but continued work at Monsanto as a civilian. In September 1946, he registered for classes at Cornell University in New York, where he continued his education in chemistry.
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