Harry S. Ladd Papers, 1912 - 1973

What is the effect of nuclear weapons on marine life? Harry S. Ladd was part of a group doing research in the Marshall Islands during a ten-year period of weapons testing. Four years after testing had begun on the Eniwetok Atoll, this paleontologist with the United States Geological Survey arrived to study the coral reefs and the marine life surrounding the atoll as part of the Pacific Islands Mapping Survey. His notebooks contain his personal records of his field work obtaining and examining core samples from the reef and other tasks. The first hydrogen bomb test would be tested there five months later. Help us transcribe this material and get a glimpse into the concerns of naturalists in the early days of the nuclear arms race.