Published by Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, NM

November 2006 

Softcover:
8 1/2 X 11
ISBN: 0-86534-530-9
134 pp. approx.

$22.95 (+ Shipping and NM Sales Tax where applicable)

In the early years of World War II it was known that Germany had split the atom, and some feared that they might be working on an atomic bomb. Scientists in the United States urged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to pursue one lest the enemy have it first. This resulted in what was called the Manhattan Project, and many famous scientists were involved. However, more was needed than a few prominent scientists. A whole infrastructure was required: scientist and engineers, of course, but also clerks, truck drivers, teachers, cooks, technicians and all the other people necessary for the new city, Los Alamos, on the remote New Mexico plateau where the first atomic bomb would be created. It was referred to as "The Hill."

Sixty years later, Santa Fe photographer aj Melnick set out to find many of the people who were involved and capture their portraits while there was still time. As she visited with them, they told her stories of what it was like to live on The Hill from 1943-1945. Many of them also gave her access to their photos and documents from that era. Their portraits, their stories, and their memorabilia are presented in this book. Not only are there the striking portraits and stories about creating the bomb and the excitement of the first atomic blast, but there are also stories about the human side of everyday life: practical jokes, Saturday night dances, secrecy, muddy streets, coping with shortages, doing the laundry, getting married. This may be the best, possibly the only collection of current portraits and individual stories about life on The Hill, Los Alamos, during those momentous years.

 Orders can be requested by clicking here to fill out a form to send in to the artist. Click here. or click on the button below.

Marguerite (Marge) Schreiber

Marge Schreiber tells of how she, her husband and baby daughter, Paula Christine, came to live at Los Alamos. The war was on and it was summer. The Schreibers were living at that time in Lafayette, IN. 

Schreib came home for lunch one day and he said to her “What would you think about going to Santa Fe this fall? I have been invited to join a project there. You just wouldn’t believe what it the project is!” 

Schreiber continued, “Schreib had finished his doctorate in physics the year before, in June, 1942, at Purdue University. There was nothing that would keep us from saying OK, and so we went.”

One occurrence at Los Alamos is indelibly imprinted on Marge Schreiber’s memory. It was a quiet afternoon in early August, 1945, before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, about three o’clock. The two little girls, Paula and Sara, were napping in the bedroom.

“Schreib came in, which was unusual at that time of day, and he had a bundle of his clothing with him. He said there had been an accident at the Lab: Louie Sloten was doing a demonstration and his tool had slipped, causing him to be exposed to radiation. Another man was close and probably had received some radiation also. Schreib, too, was in the Lab at the time, but he thought he and a few others were far enough away so that they were not exposed. Then Schreib went to the hospital for observation for three days.

“Harriet Hollaway was at the foot of the stairs and, after I told her, we just looked at each other. In times of crisis, we would take out the whiskey bottle, so Harriet went and got her bottle.  Every time I looked like I was going to faint, Harriet would give me another shot of whiskey. I have no idea how much I drank during that time, but I am certain I completely depleted her supply. Consequently, I have no real memory of that night, and that’s how I got through it.”

A neighbor took the children, fed them, and put them to sleep, telling them that Mommy was busy. All of Schreiber’s friends came to lend support too.

The hospital observation proved Schreib had not been exposed to radiation. Marge Schreiber said she went to the hospital daily but was not allowed see Louie, who later died.

“Louie and Schreib were to load the bomb, and Schreib told me he didn’t have to go, but I said he did, and so he did go. I was proud of the men who worked on the atomic bomb. They did what they had to do to win the war.”

Gordon Knobeloch

When Gordon Knobeloch stepped off the train during its brief stop at Lamy, NM, he was certain he was at the wrong place.

Gordon Knobeloch (left) and buddies

This didn’t look like anything. Using a crank phone (can you imagine?) he called Dorothy McKibben at 109 E. Palace Ave. He was soon picked up and driven up to The Hill.

Working with the RALA group, Knobeloch needed an device that would grind wood into little pieces to be used in the diagnostic testing of bombs, so he and Rene Prestwood went into Santa Fe to find a garbage disposer. He was certain that would do the job. However, he couldn’t tell the sales person why he needed the disposer. The salesman was perplexed when Knobeloch inquired as to whether or not the grinder would work without water. The men could not, of course, reveal why they needed to use it without water. When the salesman told them it would not work well without water, they abandoned the whole idea and left without it.

In addition to working with the RALA group, Knobeloch collaborated with eight or ten of the physicists. Of the project he was involved in, Knobeloch emphasized that “The implosion experiment. was the most important single experiment affecting the final design of the atomic bomb.”

When Knobeloch retired, he let his security clearance lapse, as did most retiring scientists. He had absolutely no need for it anymore. About ten years later, Knobeloch received a call from someone at the Lab who was interested in Knobeloch’s work during the war. He asked if Knobeloch would agree to come to the Lab and be videotaped discussing his work on the bomb. Knobeloch agreed to come in, and the two men set a morning videotaping appointment.

The day came and Knobeloch obligingly showed up at the appointed time and place. He spent the whole morning recounting his work on the bomb. Finally, the history was complete and he could breathe a sigh of relief. But, suddenly he had another thought: What if he had made an error in what he said, or had forgotten an important detail..

I’d like to review the tape, he requested of his videographer. “Oh,” responded the videographer, “you can’t look at the tape. It’s classified!”

Angelita Vigil Martinez

Angelita Martinez was the teacher for many young couples on The Hill: she taught them how to clean and take care of a home.

“They were young girls who didn’t know about cleaning and didn’t even have a broom or dustpan or Dutch Cleanser,” said Martinez. “And I was the one who decided when we needed to wash, so I was in charge of the laundry too.” For these services, she received $2.50 a day, and she even brought her own lunch from home.

Though Martinez was 97 years old, the memories of the square dancing on Friday and Saturday nights had not faded.  “We took turns as to where the dances were held; sometimes they were held at Fuller Lodge on The Hill, and sometimes down here at San Ildefonso Pueblo. There were no windows here at the Pueblo and we put blankets over the openings. To heat the room, we would light up a big pot-bellied stove.”

Martinez noted that Norris Bradbury, “Oppie,” and Edward Teller were among the notables attending the dances. She said that the elderly came, too.

It wasn’t strictly square dancing either. “We taught them Indian dances and we learned western dances, and the two-step.” Because there was little recreation at Los Alamos, everyone looked forward to going to the dances. In addition, those who attended could enjoy the homemade pies and cookies.

Martinez’s husband, Miguel Martinez, was the singer and drummer for the dances. “The ladies liked him and enjoyed dancing with him,” said Martinez. “A good time was had by all despite the hardships which included muddy streets and sometimes a shortage of water,” she concluded.  

Square Dances at San Ildefonso Pueblo