Atomic Pioneers Part VI: Eleanor's Story (2024)

This is Part VI in a series of posts reproducing Eleanor Ewing Ehrlich’s personal journal (courtesy of her daughter, Joan Kerby). In part I, Eleanor recounted a bit of her background, a postwar visit by the FBI (investigating Klaus Fuchs) and what led her to be recruited by her friend to “come to New Mexico to help her,” for an unspecified purpose and concluded with her strange cross-country trip to New Mexico, where she was picked up at the Lamy train station. In Part II we read about Eleanor settling into her new situation in Los Alamos and beginning her work at “The Lab.” In Part III, Eleanor recounted some of her experiences with several scientists at The Lab, as well as a scary experience with Border Patrol in Albuquerque and experiences with the “new” scientist, Richard Feynman. Part IV found Eleanor reminiscing about friends lost to the war, as well as navigating the interesting social life on The Hill, ultimately meeting the man who would become her husband. In part V, we read about Eleanor’s wedding, honeymoon trip and hike up Truchas Peak, as well as the first test of the atomic bomb.

Later in October we moved into an efficiency apartment in the West End. Dick wanted a soft-boiled egg for breakfast. When I learned what it was (my family always ate fried eggs), I presented it at the table. He announced that his mother had always cracked his soft-boiled egg.

I was astounded that a man who will soon receive his doctorate in physics has no idea how to crack an egg. By this time marriage is getting me rather annoyed. I retorted, “The only place I’ll crack this egg is on the top of your head. I am your wife, not your mother.” That ended the egg question.

Life in the apartment was coping with power blackouts, water shortages, ice delivery for the icebox, etc., plus the laundry. Bringing water to a boil at 7,500 feet altitude and baking a cake – different. Many times I had just started dinner when we lost power for the next hour and one half. With my job and homemaking, I had little free time.

Jean Walton had given me a surprise bridal shower where I received pots and pans, sheets and pillowcases. The Olums gave us dinner plates. This was a time of shortage so the Theoretical Division wives shared some of what they had. Very generous. The car was used only for trips away from the Hill. I had to carry groceries from the Commissary.

Dick’s mother had been to Colorado that Fall and then she came to Santa Fe to meet me. Dick, Julius, Ed and I took her to see the mountains near Albuquerque. We ate dinner in Old Town and found the car had a flat tire, but we did have a spare. About a mile from Bernalillo we had another flat tire – no spare. We all walked into Bernalillo where the only open building was the jail [Sandoval County jail]. The jailer said we could spend the night in the jail. Next morning, the men hitchhiked to Santa Fe [close to 50 miles] and Dick returned with a repaired tire. That was the first night Dick’s mother and I spent together – in a jail.

At Thanksgiving time, I bought a turkey from the commissary. The Pepkowiz’s saw me walking to our apartment and gave me a ride. Dick was playing touch football with Julius, Ed, the chaplain, Bob Davis, Nick Metropolis and other men.

The next morning I unwrapped the turkey to discover that the feathers were still in it. I had helped my mother prepare chickens for frying. First she wrung their necks, cut the head off and plunged them into scalding water. Then we plucked the feathers off. I refused to do the neck-wringing part, but I did pluck feathers.

I heated water on the hot plate, plunged the bird in, but the feathers did not pull off. Dick had the grand idea that we would build a fire in a clear spot near the canyon and succeed in making a hotter fire. That didn’t work either. Then he tried to singe off the feathers. After all of this, the turkey was still frozen. Then I noticed that the entrails were inside. I just had enough. What I had wanted him to do was take me to Fuller Lodge for a Thanksgiving dinner, but he wanted to save money.

I walked to the nearest garbage can and threw the turkey in. We had hot dogs at the PX. Our first Thanksgiving was over. I recommend denuded turkeys with entrails removed. I can’t remember what we did our first Christmas. We were busy preparing to leave the Project for Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, where Dick was to complete his doctorate under the guidance of Hans Bethe.

On February 7 [1946], we left from Lamy and arrived in Streator, Illinois, on a cold, snowy day very early in the morning. My daddy picked us up in his Packard. Mother met us at the door and informed us that my sister Marjorie was marrying Alford Andersen that very afternoon. Andy was from Chicago, a chemist Marjorie had met at the summer school, University of Illinois, Urbana. After a few days visit, we again boarded a train and proceeded to Manhattan where Dick’s father had dental offices in Rockefeller Center. I was to meet Dick’s father and his sister Miriam.

[Eleanor did not write about their further adventures in New York City and beyond.]

Richard Ehrlich, 1921-2001 (from the Atomic Heritage Foundation)

Richard Ehrlich worked at Los Alamos in the Theoretical Physics Division, during the Manhattan Project. He later worked at Oak Ridge in the 1960s.

Ehrlich marriedEleanor Ewing on July 7, 1945. The wedding took place at Fuller Lodge. In 1946, the couple moved to Cornell University. Here, Ehrlich completed his Ph.D. research. From 1947 to 1975, the family lived in Schenectady, while he worked for General Electric.

Eleanor Ewing Ehrlich, 1918-2011 (from the Atomic Heritage Foundation)

Ewing was born on a farm in Pontiac, Ill., on Jan. 18, 1918. Possessing a knack for mathematics in high school, she received a scholarship to attend the University of Illinois. She graduated with a B.A. in mathematics in 1941. Afterwards, she stayed on at the university and pursued an M.A. in mathematics, while also teaching in the department. Throughout her time at the University of Illinois, she took one physics class.

In 1943, Ewing began to work at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft in Hartford, Conn., training women to become engineer aides. However, in 1944, she received a call from Naomi Livesay, a fellow teacher at the University of Illinois, inviting her to come work on an unknown project in an unknown place in New Mexico. Ewing accepted. After a long and complicated journey, Livesay met Ewing at the Lamy train station and brought her to Los Alamos. During her time at Los Alamos, Ewing helped run the IBM calculating team, calculating the predicted shock wave from an implosion-type bomb.

The Couple

On July 7, 1945, Ewing married Richard Ehrlich, who worked in the Theoretical Physics Division. The wedding took place at Fuller Lodge.

In February 1946, the couple moved to Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Ehrlich finished his Ph.D. research, and Ewing spent one semester working as an assistant in the Mathematics Department. However, once their first child was born, she was too busy to continue with that position.

From 1947-75, the family was based in Schenectady, N.Y., where Richard worked for General Electric. Due to changes at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, Richard was relocated to General Electric’s San Jose location. They would remain in California for 13 years. They eventually moved to Gainesville, Florida in 1999.