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Korff, Frederick Francis "Bud,", 1926-2016 Search this
Extent:
0.38 Cubic feet ((2 boxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Newsletters
Newspaper clippings
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of approximately 0.38 cubic feet of material relating to Frederick Francis "Bud" Korff's service with the 509th Composite Group. There is a folder of correspondence between Korff and various friends and relatives, most frequently letters from Korff to his mother. The collection also contains news clippings; "The Atomic Blast" newsletters, dated June-July 1946, issued by the 509th Composite Group from Kwajalein Island; several issues of the Kwajalein newspaper "The Hourglass"; yearbooks for various units under Task Group 1.5 (formed from the 58th Bombardment Wing, part of Joint Army/Navy Task Force One, which conducted the Bikini Atoll tests) including Headquarters, The Air Photo Unit (1.52), Air Instrumentation and Test Requirement Unit (1.53), and the Air Transport Unit (1.54); blank stationery with letterhead art work for the 58th Bomb Wing Crossroads Project and with two different designs for the Operation Crossroads Atomic Tests; Kwajalein Island orientation materials; and a copy of Korff's discharge certificate. Other items of interest include a postal cover flown aboard Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Dave's Dream" in the first atomic test of Operation Crossroads, and a short snorter in various sizes designed for Joint Army/Navy Task Force One/Operation Crossroads. The largest copy of the short snorter measures 13 by 6 inches and is signed by various members of the group.
Biographical / Historical:
Frederick Francis "Bud" Korff (1926-2016) served as an airplane and engine mechanic with the 509th Composite Group, first at Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico and later as part of Operation Crossroads, an atmospheric nuclear weapon test series conducted in the summer of 1946 at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Korff was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army Air Forces in November 1946.
Provenance:
Eric F. Witzke, Gift, 2017
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This scrapbook is a photo and documentary history of the Task Group T-2 which was given the responsibility of the overall supervision of the AAF Airborne installation and large part of the photography. It mostly contains what appears to be photograph prints for briefing boards. Included are statistics and supply requirements, charts of types of cameras, film requirements and costs, personnel requirements and costs, personnel involved and the natives of Bikini Atoll. It closes with a series of the five color photographs taken during the tests.
Biographical / Historical:
Operation Crossroads was an atmospheric nuclear weapon test series conducted in the summer of 1946 at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The series consisted of two detonations, a low altitude test and a shallow water test. The series was intended to study the effects of nuclear weapons on warships, equipment, and material.
Provenance:
Col. Donald Putt, Gift, unknown, XXXX-0302, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Schultz, Leonard P. (Leonard Peter), 1901-1986, interviewee Search this
Extent:
3 audiotapes (Reference copies). 6 digital .mp3 files (Reference copies).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Transcripts
Date:
1976
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Schultz was interviewed for the Oral History Program because of his long career at the Smithsonian as a curator and scientist.
Descriptive Entry:
Schultz was interviewed on March 23, 1976 by Pamela M. Henson. The interview covers his education; teaching career at the University of Washington; field work in Michigan,
the western United States, Virginia, the Phoenix and Samoan Islands, Venezuela, and Bikini Atoll; research interests in life histories, tropical aquarium fishes and sharks;
and his career as Curator of the Division of Fishes.
Historical Note:
Leonard Peter Schultz (1901-1986) began his career in ichthyology at Albion College, where he received his B.A. in 1924. Schultz received his M.S. in 1926 from the
University of Michigan and in 1932 his Ph.D. in ichthyology from the University of Washington. From 1928 to 1936, Schultz taught at the College of Fisheries of the University
of Washington. In 1936 Schultz was appointed Assistant Curator in charge of the Division of Fishes of the United States National Museum (USNM) and in 1938 was appointed Curator
of the Division. After his retirement in 1968, Schultz was appointed a Research Associate of the Division of Fishes. Research interests included life histories of fishes and
revisions of genera and families. Schultz did much field work and collecting in the United States, especially in the western states, and participated in expeditions to the
Phoenix and Samoan Islands and the Maracaibo Basin in Venezuela. Schultz was a scientist with Crossroads Operation which conducted the scientific survey and resurvey of Bikini
Atoll, the site of atomic bomb tests. Schultz also conducted a study of sharks and shark attacks for the Shark Research Panel of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
2.58 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes) (1 tall document box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diaries
Field notes
Scrapbooks
Black-and-white photographs
Date:
circa 1915-1982 and undated
Descriptive Entry:
These papers document Ladd's career with the USGS and his research on the geology of Pacific Islands. They include incoming and outgoing correspondence documenting
field work, USGS matters, research and the publication of papers, and professional activities; diaries and field notes, mostly documenting his investigations in the Pacific;
scrapbooks documenting personal and professional affairs, but which are particularly strong in documenting his role in the Crossroads Operation and Project Mohole; photographs,
slides, and motion pictures, mostly from his field work in the Pacific; an oral history interview of Ladd conducted in 1977; and various manuscripts, notes, and lists from
his research.
Historical Note:
Harry Stephen Ladd (1899-1982) received his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Iowa in 1925. The initial part of his professional career was spent in faculty positions
at his alma mater and the University of Virginia, as a geologist with the Gulf Oil Company in Venezuela, and studying fossils under Edward Oscar Ulrich at the United States
National Museum. Ladd began his career with the United States Department of Interior in 1936 when he was appointed Geologist with the National Park Service. In 1940, he joined
the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as a Geologist. He remained with the USGS until his retirement in 1969. Ladd was a Research Associate in the Department of Paleobiology,
National Museum of Natural History from 1969 until his death.
Ladd was an authority on the geology of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. He conducted extensive field work in the Pacific Basin and supervised deep sea drilling on Eniwetok,
Midway and other atolls. He was also a major contributor to Project Mohole, a plan for drilling deep into the earth's inner crust on the Pacific Ocean floor near Hawaii. During
1946-1947, Ladd was in charge of geological work on Crossroads Operation which conducted the scientific survey and resurvey of Bikini Atoll, the site of atomic bomb tests.
Ladd was active professionally and was a vice president of the Geological Society of America, 1955, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1965, and
President of the Paleontological Society, 1954.
Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.
![View 509th Composite Group Material [Korff] digital asset: Finding aid](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=120&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/findingaid.gif "Finding aid")
![view Folder 1 Logbook, 1946. digital asset: Cover of Dr. Leonard P. Schultz's Log of Operation Crossroads, 1946 [Image No. SIA2010-0894]](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=170&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/electronicresource.gif "Cover of Dr. Leonard P. Schultz's Log of Operation Crossroads, 1946 [Image No. SIA2010-0894]")
![View Folder 1 Logbook, 1946. digital asset: Cover of Dr. Leonard P. Schultz's Log of Operation Crossroads, 1946 [Image No. SIA2010-0894]](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=120&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/electronicresource.gif "Cover of Dr. Leonard P. Schultz's Log of Operation Crossroads, 1946 [Image No. SIA2010-0894]")
