Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The papers of J. Robert Oppenheimer, physicist and director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, were given to the Library of Congress by his wife, Katherine Harrison Oppenheimer, in 1967. Supplementary papers were transferred to the Library by the Atomic Energy Commission in 1971. Additional material was given by Princeton University Library in 1973 and Richard G. Hewlett in 1977. Further additions were donated by Alice Kimball Smith, Charles Weiner, and Herbert W. Smith in 1981 and 1982, R. Joseph Anderson in 1999, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University in 2016, and Franz Schneider in 2017. An addition was purchased by the Library in 2022.
Processing History
The papers of J. Robert Oppenheimer were arranged and described in 1968. Additional material received between 1971 and 1982 was processed in 1973 and 1984 and the description revised and expanded in 1997 by Carolyn H. Sung and David Mathisen. Material received in 1999 was processed in 2000 by Michael Spangler and Stephen Urgola, an addition received in 2016 was processed in 2016 by Michael Folkerts, and additional material received in 2017 and 2022 were processed in 2023 by Miles Lawlor.
Transfers
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Approximately sixty magnetic tapes, chiefly of Oppenheimer's speeches, have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Of special note are three reels of conversation between Oppenheimer and Niels Bohr in 1958; three reels recorded at the Seven Springs Farm Conference, which include Robert Lowell reading poetry from the Russian and addresses by Wallace K. Harrison, Robert Lowell, and Nicolas Nabokov; and three tapes of interviews relating to the Los Alamos project. Two short motion pictures, “Thirty Minutes With Oppenheimer” (NBC television) and Edward R. Murrow's “A Conversation With J. Robert Oppenheimer” (part of the “See It Now” series on CBS television) also have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Glass slides of various graphs are now in the Prints and Photographs Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the J. Robert Oppenheimer Papers. Patrons are encouraged to contact these divisions in advance of a research visit.
Related Material
Related collections in the Manuscript Division include the Martin J. Sherwin Collection relating to J. Robert Oppenheimer (see https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms011004) and the J. Robert Oppenheimer FBI Security File (see https://lccn.loc.gov/99213202).
Microfilm
Microfilm on 1 reel was received as part of the papers of J. Robert Oppenheimer and is listed and described in this finding aid. This microfilm is not available for interlibrary loan.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, J. Robert Oppenheimer Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.