Scope and Content Note
The papers of Benjamin S. Loeb (1914- ) span the years 1945-1999, with the bulk of the material dating from 1961 to 1971. The papers concern Loeb's collaboration with Glenn Theodore Seaborg on several books concerning Seaborg's chairmanship of the Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to 1971. The books, each of which focuses on a presidential administration, explore Seaborg's efforts to promote arms control and peaceful uses of nuclear power. The collection consists of research files containing excerpts from Seaborg's journal, correspondence, memoranda, cables, reports, minutes, interview transcripts, writings, speeches, newspaper clippings, and printed matter. The files are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
A large portion of Loeb's research files consists of material culled from the Seaborg Papers located in this division. Loeb relied heavily on Seaborg's journal which contains diary-like entries supplemented by copies of correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, and printed matter. Loeb's files provide topical access to the chronologically-arranged journal on issues such as arms control and test ban treaties, the environment, fast breeder reactors, multilateral force, peaceful nuclear explosions, plowshare programs, and uranium enrichment. Many of the photocopied documents contain Loeb's annotations.
Loeb augmented his use of Seaborg's papers with research at the John F. Kennedy Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas, and the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. Files relating to the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 include copies of State Department cables secured by Loeb through Freedom of Information Act requests. Also included in the collection are Loeb's correspondence and interviews with prominent former government officials including McGeorge Bundy, W. Averell Harriman, and Theodore C. Sorensen.
Featured in the collection is Loeb's investigation into allegations that Zalman Shapiro, president of the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation of Pennsylvania, provided Israeli associates with nuclear secrets and enriched uranium in the 1960s. Included are copies of Federal Bureau of Investigation memoranda and reports attained by Loeb through the Freedom of Information Act.