Charter Heslep Papers, 1932-1963
The Charter Heslep Papers are primarily comprised of materials dating from Heslep's time as an employee of the Atomic Energy Commission. The collection includes correspondence, speeches, ephemera, photographs, and sound recordings relating to Charter Heslep's work with the AEC, with emphasis on his efforts to televise U.S. nuclear tests on behalf of the Commission.
The contents of Box-folder 1.6 in Series 1, Correspondence, and Box-folders 1.36 and 1.38 in the Photographs series, have been digitized and are available upon request.
Container List
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1950-1957 Add to Shelf
Series 1 is composed predominantly of letters to and from Charter's wife, Margaret, between 1950 and 1958. Their correspondence includes personal and family news, descriptions of Heslep's work on behalf of the Atomic Energy Commission, and extensive correspondence dating from Heslep's observation of nuclear tests in Nevada (1952 and 1953) and the Marshall Islands (1956). Notably, Heslep provides detailed descriptions of activities surrounding the Tumbler-Snapper Charlie test, the Upshot-Knothole Annie test, and the Redwing Lacrosse and Cherokee tests--the first thermonuclear drop--including setup of broadcast relays, weather reports, the detonations of nuclear devices, and life at Camp Mercury and aboard the USS Mount McKinley. The series also includes several letters to the Heslep children, a telegram regarding a cancelled meeting with Harry S. Truman, correspondence granting clearance for Heslep to attend the Eniwetok-Bikini Atolls tests, and a letter to Captain H. G. Rickover describing plans for Heslep to author a book on nuclear submarines.
The contents of Box-folder 1.6 have been digitized and are available upon request.
- UnitID: Series I
- Box-Folder 1.1: Family Correspondence, 1950 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.2: Family Correspondence, 1951 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.3: Family Correspondence, 1952 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.4: Family Correspondence, 1953 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.5: Family Correspondence, 1954 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.6: Family Correspondence, 1956 Add to Shelf
- The contents of this folder have been digitized and are available upon request.
- Box-Folder 1.7: Family Correspondence, 1957 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.8: Professional Correspondence, 1953-1956 Add to Shelf
- Series 2: Speeches, 1950-1963 Add to Shelf
- This series is comprised of speeches authored and given by Charter Heslep during his time at the Atomic Energy Commission. Topics include the defensive applications of radio and television, the role of the Atomic Energy Commission, the history of nuclear weapons in the United States, and the role of ghostwriting in the public sphere.
- UnitID: Series II
- Box-Folder 1.9: "The Atom Business," American Association of University Women, Richmond, VA, 1950 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.10: "Radio's Role in Defense," Tennessee Broadcaster Association Dinner, Nashville, TN, 1950 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.11: "Mobilizing Radio and Television," Conference on Station Problems, Norman, OK, 1951 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.12: Mimeographed typescript of untitled speech before the NATO Information Program Group II, 1954 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.13: "The AEC Can Talk," American Women in Radio and Television, Kansas City, MO, 1954 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.14: Speech Material on First Experimental Central Station Nuclear Power Project, 1954 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.15: "The Geneva Story," Radio Television News Directors Association, Denver, CO, 1955 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.16: "Some Aspects of the Impact of the Nuclear Age in the United States," United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, 1958 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.17: "Ghosting: A Necessity, Not a Sin," Conference on College Composition and Communication, Washington, D.C., 1961 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.18: "Atoms for Peace: Program or Propaganda?" Springfield College, Springfield, MA, 1963 Add to Shelf
- Series 3: Ephemera, 1945-1961 Add to Shelf
- Series 3 is comprised of several items of ephemera collected by Heslep during his career. The series includes programs from nuclear energy-related events and a press kit from Atomos en Accion, an exhibition on nuclear science and technology held in Peru in 1961. The kit includes correspondence, an organizational chart, and promotional materials relating to Heslep's attendance as a representative of the Atomic Energy Commission. The series also contains a report by Charles L. Dunham on a nuclear energy symposium held in Argentina, an account of reporter Paul Harvey breaking into restricted military property, an article on Heslep from the Augusta Herald, articles written by Heslep on the televising of nuclear tests, several certificates of participation from Oak Ridge Laboratories, Operation Teapot, and Operation Redwing, and a news sheet printed on board the USS Mount McKinley.
- UnitID: Series III
- Box-Folder 1.19: Program from the Atomic Age Dinner of America United for World Organization, Inc., 1945 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.20: Certificates of Participation in Atomic Tests, 1950-1956 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.21: "Paul Harvey Incident" Materials Compiled by Radio Reports, Inc., 1951 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.22: "Charter Heslep in Augusta," The Augusta Herald, 1952 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.23: "They Said It Couldn't Be Done: The Story of the First Live Televising of an Atomic Detonation", 1952 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.24: "It Couldn't Be Done - But T-V Men Did It," The Quill, 1952 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.25: Program from the ground breaking ceremony for the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, 1954 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.26: "B-52 Makes America's First Bomb Drop," Port & Starboard Press, Amateur news sheet printed on board the USS Mount McKinley, 1956 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.27: Program from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Annual Honor Awards Ceremony, 1956 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.28: "Chronology of Important Events in the Atoms for Peace Program", 1958 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.29: "Trip Report: Second Inter-American Symposium on the Peaceful Application of Nuclear Energy, Buenos Aires, Argentina," Charles L. Dunham, 1959 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.30: "Atomos en Accion" Press Kit, 1961 Add to Shelf
- Series 4: Photographs, 1932-1961 Add to Shelf
Series 4 is comprised of both color and black and white photographs relating to Heslep's work as a news reporter and member of the Atomic Energy Commission. The collection contains photographs of nuclear test preparations and explosions including images of Operation Trinity; Operation Tumbler-Snapper's Charlie test; Operation Upshot-Knothole's Annie, Nancy, Ruth, Dixie, Ray, and Grable tests; Operation Plumbbob's Priscilla and Fizeau tests; Operation Greenhouse; and Operation Redwing. The collection also includes photographs of test dummies and buildings, portions of the Nevada Test Site including "News Nob" and Camp Mercury, and photos of work aboard the USS Mount McKinley, an observer ship in the Pacific Proving Grounds during the Redwing tests.
The series also includes photos of Atomic Energy Commission events, meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory conference, Britain's first plutonium factory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, protests surrounding the Rosenberg espionage hearings, and other events and people relating to nuclear science and history. The series also contains numerous career photographs of Heslep in his position at the AEC, the Washington Daily News, and the Mutual Broadcasting Company as well as headshots and studio portraits.
The contents of Box-folders 1.36 and 1.38 have been digitized and are available upon request.
- UnitID: Series IV
- Box-Folder 1.31: Operation Trinity, 1945 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.32: Operation Tumbler-Snapper, 1952 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.33: Operation Upshot-Knothole, 1953 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.34: Operation Plumbbob, 1957 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.35: Nevada Test Site Unidentified Nuclear Tests, undated Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.36: Nevada Test Site, 1952-1953 Add to Shelf
- The contents of this folder have been digitized and are available upon request.
- Box-Folder 1.37: Operation Greenhouse, 1951 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 1.38: Operation Redwing, 1956 Add to Shelf
- The contents of this folder have been digitized and are available upon request.
- Box-Folder 1.39: Pacific Proving Grounds Unidentified Nuclear Tests, undated Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.1: Career Photographs, 1932, 1937 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.2: Career Photographs, 1945-1949 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.3: Career Photographs, 1950 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.4: Career Photographs, 1951 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.5: Career Photographs, 1952 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.6: Career Photographs, 1953 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.7: Career Photographs, 1954 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.8: Career Photographs, 1955 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.9: Career Photographs, 1956 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.10: Career Photographs, 1957 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.11: Career Photographs, 1958 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.12: Career Photographs, 1959 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.13: Career Photographs, 1960 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.14: Career Photographs, 1961 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.15: Career Photographs, undated Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.16: Headshots and Studio Portraits of Charter Heslep, 1932, 1952-1959 Add to Shelf
- Series 5: Sound Recordings, 1958-1961 Add to Shelf
- This series is composed of two sound recordings, "Peaceful Use of the Atom" and "Atoms for Peace: 1946-1961".
- UnitID: Series V
- Box-Folder 2.17: "Peaceful Use of the Atom" Reel 1, January 16, 1958 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.18: "Peaceful Use of the Atom" Reel 2, January 16, 1958 Add to Shelf
- Box-Folder 2.19: "Atoms for Peace: 1946-1961", February 8, 1961 Add to Shelf