Oak Ridge Today

Virtual talks on Weinberg and his archived papers on Apr. 20

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Alvin Weinberg, front center, with Senator John F. Kennedy, front left, at an Oak Ridge National Laboratory research reactor. (Submitted photo)

“A Tribute to Alvin Weinberg,” including information on the new online database of his scientific publications and other documents, will be presented virtually to the public from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 20 (Weinberg’s birth anniversary).

The presentation, via Zoom, is sponsored by the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge and Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“The purpose of this public online event is to honor Alvin Weinberg’s legacy and to celebrate the preservation and digitization of his papers,” said Rhonda Bogard, who led the digitization of the papers, most of which were initially donated to the Children’s Museum in 1986. [Read more…]

Weinberg papers preservation project seeks community support

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Weinberg Web Page (Submitted photo)

Weinberg Web Page (Submitted photo)

 

As the city celebrates its 75th anniversary, the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is soliciting the community’s support to ensure the legacy of a famous Oak Ridger is preserved for posterity.

Alvin Weinberg, a renowned nuclear physicist, worked on the Manhattan Project, became head of the Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, then research director, and ultimately the director of the laboratory for 18 years. He donated his personal papers to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge when Selma Shapiro, the museum’s founder, was serving as its executive director. Now Shapiro’s daughter, Rhonda Bogard, is part of a core team working to permanently preserve the papers.

The goal of the project is to ensure Weinberg’s work and legacy are preserved for future generations, a press release said. Bogard thinks his work speaks for itself. “His work will be remembered for the vision and leadership it symbolizes,” she said. [Read more…]

Holocaust Remembrance Program is Sunday in Oak Ridge

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Mira Kimmelman

Mira Kimmelman

There will be a Holocaust Remembrance Program at the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge on Sunday.

It’s presented by the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. The Holocaust Remembrance Service is sponsored by the Oak Ridge Interfaith Partnership, and the public is encouraged to attend, a press release said. The City of Oak Ridge has proclaimed April 15 to be Holocaust Remembrance Day for 2018, the press release said.

The Holocaust Remembrance Program will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge Sanctuary, which is at 101 West Madison Lane. There will be a candle lighting ceremony, songs, readings by members of both congregations, and prayers, the press release said. [Read more…]

Scottish professor visits Children’s Museum for Weinberg research

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Sean Johnston and Alvin Weinberg Papers at Children's Museum

Professor Sean Johnston, a professor of science, technology, and social studies from the Dumfries Campus of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, searched through the papers of Alvin Weinberg, former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as part of a two-year project funded by the British Academy titled “Trusting the Technological Fix.” (Submitted photo)

 

The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is well known as a center of play and learning for the young and young at heart. The museum’s lesser-known collections of historic papers recently brought a senior academic historian from Scotland to Oak Ridge for several days of research.

Professor Sean Johnston, a professor of science, technology, and social studies from the Dumfries Campus of the University of Glasgow, searched through the papers of Alvin Weinberg, former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as part of a two-year project funded by the British Academy titled “Trusting the Technological Fix.”

His visit highlights the value of the collections the museum began gathering in the 1970s to tell the cultural and social history of the area for its Regional Appalachian Center.

“Not only was Weinberg the prominent head of the national laboratory (1955-73), and very much a member of the establishment, but he was somebody who was curious and worried about the wider social implications of nuclear technology,” Johnston said. [Read more…]