RARE! "Hiroshima" Harold Agnew Hand Signed Drawing of an Atomic Bomb Explosion

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Up for auction a VERY
RARE! "Hiroshima" Harold Agnew Hand Signed Drawing of an Atomic Bomb Explosion (Mushroom Cloud). This is one of the only drawings by this renowned scientist and observer of the explosion. A true piece of American History.
This item is authenticated By Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity.
ES-6317E
Harold Melvin Agnew
(March 28, 1921 – September 29, 2013) was an American physicist, best known for having flown as a scientific observer on the
Hiroshima bombing mission
and, later, as the third director of the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
. Agnew joined the
Metallurgical Laboratory
at the
University of Chicago
in 1942, and helped build
Chicago Pile-1
, the world's first
nuclear reactor
. In 1943, he joined the
Los Alamos Laboratory
, where he worked with the
Cockcroft–Walton generator
. After the war ended, he returned to the University of Chicago, where he completed his graduate work under
Enrico Fermi
. Agnew returned to Los Alamos in 1949, and worked on the
Castle Bravo
nuclear test
at
Bikini Atoll
in 1954. He became head of the Weapon Nuclear Engineering Division in 1964. He also served as a
Democratic
New Mexico State Senator
from 1955 to 1961, and was the Scientific Adviser to the
NATO
Supreme Allied Commander Europe
(SACEUR) from 1961 to 1964. He was director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1970 to 1979, when he resigned to become President and Chief Executive Officer of
General Atomics
. He died at his home in
Solana Beach, California
, on September 29, 2013. Harold Melvin Agnew was born in
Denver, Colorado
on March 28, 1921, the only child of a pair of
stonecutters
. He attended
South Denver High School
and entered the
University of Denver
, where he majored in
chemistry
. He was a strong athlete who pitched for the university
softball
team that won a championship. He left the University of Denver in January 1942, but had enough credits to graduate
Phi Beta Kappa
with his
Bachelor of Arts
degree in June, and he received a scholarship to
Yale University
. After the Japanese
bombing of Pearl Harbor
brought the United States into the
Pacific War
, Agnew and his girlfriend Beverly, a fellow graduate of South Denver High School and the University of Denver, attempted to join the
United States Army Air Corps
together. They were persuaded not to sign the enlistment papers. Instead,
Joyce C. Stearns
, the head of the physics department at the University of Denver, persuaded Agnew to come with him to the
University of Chicago
, where Stearns became the deputy head of the
Metallurgical Laboratory
. Although Agnew had enough credits to graduate, Beverly did not and had to remain behind. They were married in Denver on May 2, 1942. They then went to Chicago, where Beverly became a secretary to Richard L. Doan, then head of the Metallurgical Laboratory. Agnew and Beverly had two children, a daughter Nancy, and a son, John. At the Metallurgical Laboratory, Agnew worked with
Enrico Fermi
,
Walter Zinn
and
Herbert L. Anderson
. There, he was involved in the construction of
Chicago Pile-1
. Initially, Agnew worked with the instrumentation. The
Geiger counters
were calibrated using a
radon
-
beryllium
source, and Agnew received too high a dose of radiation. He was then put to work stacking the
graphite
bricks that were the reactor's
neutron moderator
. He witnessed the first controlled
nuclear chain reaction
when the reactor went critical on December 2, 1942. Agnew and Beverly moved to the
Los Alamos Laboratory
in March 1943. Agnew, Beverly and
Bernard Waldman
first went to the
University of Illinois
, where the men disassembled the
Cockcroft–Walton generator
and
particle accelerator
while Beverly catalogued all the parts. The parts were shipped to New Mexico, where Agnew and Beverly met up with them, and rode the trucks hauling them to the Los Alamos Laboratory. There, Beverly worked as a secretary, initially with
Robert Oppenheimer
and his secretary Priscilla Green. She then became secretary to
Robert Bacher
, the head of Physics (P) Division, and later the Gadget (G) Division, for the rest of the war. Agnew's job was to reassemble the accelerator, which was then used for experiments by
John Manley
's group. When experimental work wound down, Agnew was transferred to
Project Alberta
, working as part of
Luis W. Alvarez
's group, whose role was to monitor the yield of nuclear explosions. With Alvarez and
Lawrence H. Johnston
, Agnew had devised a method for measuring the yield of the nuclear blast by dropping pressure gauges on parachutes and
telemetering
the readings back to the plane. In June 1945, he was issued an Army uniform and dog tags at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, and was flown to
Tinian
in the Western Pacific in a
C-54
of the
509th Composite Group
. Agnew's first task was to install his yield measurement instrumentation in the
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
aircraft
The Great Artiste
. During the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima
, on August 6, 1945, Agnew, along with Alvarez and Johnston, flew as a scientific observer in
The Great Artiste
, piloted by
Charles Sweeney
, which tailed the
Enola Gay
as the instrumentation aircraft. Agnew later recalled, "After we dropped our gauges I remember we made a sharp turn to the right so that we would not get caught in the blast – but we still got badly shaken up by it." He brought along a movie camera and took the only existing movies of the Hiroshima event as seen from the air. After the war ended, Agnew entered the University of Chicago, where he completed his graduate work under Fermi. Agnew and Beverly stayed with Fermi and his family, due to the post-war housing shortage. He received his
Master of Science
(MS) degree in 1948 and his
Doctor of Philosophy
(PhD) degree in 1949, writing his thesis on "The beta-spectra of Cs137, Y91, Pm147, Ru106, Sm151, P32, Tm170".Fellow postgraduate students at Chicago at the time included
Tsung-Dao Lee
,
Chen Ning Yang
,
Owen Chamberlain
and
Jack Steinberger
.
With his doctorate in hand, Agnew returned to Los Alamos as a National Research Foundation Fellow, and worked on weapons development in the Physics Division. In 1950, he was assigned to the
thermonuclear weapons
project, and was project engineer for the
Castle Bravo
nuclear test
at
Bikini Atoll
in 1954. He became head of the Weapon Nuclear Engineering Division in 1964. Agnew served as a
Democratic
New Mexico State Senator
from 1955 to 1961. He was the first state senator to be elected from
Los Alamos County
. Senators served unpaid, receiving only a per diem allowance of five dollars. Since the New Mexico legislature convened for only 30 days in even numbered years and 60 days in odd numbered years,
[17]
he was able to continue working at Los Alamos, taking leave without pay to attend. He attempted to reform New Mexico's liquor laws, which specified a minimum mark-up. He was unsuccessful in 1957, but the law was reformed in 1963.
From 1961 to 1964, he was Scientific Adviser to the
NATO
Supreme Allied Commander Europe
(SACEUR). He also held a number of part-time advisory position with the military over the years. He was a member of the
United States Air Force Scientific Advisory Board
from 1957 to 1968, and was chairman of the Science Advisory Group of the
United States Army
's Combat Development Command from 1966 to 1970. He was a member of the
Defense Science Board
from 1966 to 1970, the Army's Scientific Advisory Panel from 1966 to 1974, and the Army Science Board from 1978 to 1984.
Agnew became director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1970, when it had 7,000 employees. He took over at a time of great change. His predecessor,
Norris Bradbury
, had rebuilt the laboratory from scratch after the war, and many of the people he had brought in were approaching retirement. Under his directorship, Los Alamos developed an underground test containment program, completed its
Meson Physics Facility
, acquired the first
Cray supercomputer
, and trained the first class of
International Atomic Energy Agency
inspectors. Agnew managed to get the Los Alamos Laboratory responsibility for the development of the
W76
, used by the
Trident I
and
Trident II
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles
, and the
W78
used by the
Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missiles
. He was proud of the work with
insensitive high explosive
that made nuclear weapons safer to handle. Support from the
Atomic Energy Commission
for reactor development dried up, but during the
1970s energy crisis
, the laboratory explored other types of alternative fuels.