Scope and Content Note
The papers of Robert R. Furman (1915-2008) span the years 1944-1985 and consist of correspondence, memoranda, diary notes, interviews and writings, notes and notebooks, and miscellaneous material. The collection contains material relating to Furman’s service with the Manhattan Project, the code name for the Allied effort during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. In July 1945, Furman was instructed to transfer the most crucial element of the bomb, a sub-critical mass of uranium 235, from the project’s research laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico, to its final assembly point on Tinian Island in the Pacific. Furman’s diary notes and post-mission interviews and writings cast light on the details of the highly secretive transport that culminated with the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, by the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay. The collection includes memoranda and retrospective material concerning the Indianapolis (cruiser), the United States Navy ship used to transfer the nuclear component and one of the last naval vessels sunk by enemy action, four days after its delivery to Tinian.
The papers also address Furman’s participation in the Alsos Mission, an intelligence operation associated with the Manhattan District, designed to gather information regarding Germany’s nuclear weapons program, seize German strategic materials and resources, and interrogate scientific and research personnel. The papers contain a file of diary notes, writings, and miscellaneous items concerning the mission.