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Finding Aid for the Stafford Leak Warren papers, 1917-1980 bulk 1943-1980
987
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Title: Stafford Leak Warren papers,
Date (inclusive): 1917-1980, bulk 1943-1980
Collection number: 987
Creator:
Warren, Stafford L. (Stafford Leak), 1896-1981
Extent: 275 boxes (137.5 linear ft.)
5 cartons (5 linear ft.)
27 oversize boxes
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Stafford Leak Warren (1896-1981) was the director of the Atomic Energy Project at the University of Rochester (1943) and worked
on the Manhattan Project. After the war, Warren came to UCLA to serve as dean of the School of Medicine (1947-62) and as vice-chancellor
of the Health Sciences (1962-63). The collection consists of Warren's professional papers, documenting every major phase of
his career. The bulk of the papers cover 1940 onward, including Warren's participation in the Manhattan Project and Operation
Crossroads, and his subsequent involvement with issues and work with atomic bomb development and radiation effects.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. The library
can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or quote
must be submitted in writing to
the Manuscripts Librarian, Department of Special Collections.] Credit shall be given as follows: ©The Regents of the University
of California on behalf of the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections.
Operation Crossroads papers and Manhattan Project papers are available for access on 35 mm positive microfilm (in boxes 303-305)
in Department of Special Collections. Originals, stored in boxes 57-83, not available for consultation due to fragile condition.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- Gift of Mrs. Stafford Warren, 1982.
- Gift of Dr. Stafford L. Warren.
- Gift of Mrs. Jane Larson, 1987.
[Identification of item], Stafford Leak Warren papers (Collection 987). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Warren was born on June 19, 1896 in Maxwell City, New Mexico; BA, University of California at Berkeley, 1918; MA, MD, University
of California San Francisco Medical School, 1922; postgraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard, 1922-25; associate
professor, then professor, University of Rochester, 1925-43; director, Atomic Energy Project, University of Rochester, 1943;
worked on the Manhattan Project and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his work on atomic bomb development; dean,
UCLA School of Medicine, 1947-62; vice-chancellor, Health Sciences, UCLA, 1962-63; special assistant to U.S. President on
mental retardation, 1963-65; professor emeritus, UCLA, 1965-81; presented Enrico Fermi Award by the Atomic Energy Commission,
1972; died on July 26, 1981 in Pacific Palisades, California.
Stafford L. Warren: Biographical Note
| 1896 | Born on June 19, in Maxwell City, New Mexico. |
| 1918 | B.A., University of California, Berkeley. |
| 1920 | On May 22, married Viola Lockhart (deceased). |
| 1922 | M.A., M.D., University of California, San Francisco Medical School. |
| 1922-1925 | Postgraduate studies, Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University. |
| 1925-1930 | Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Rochester. |
| 1930-1943 | Associate Professor of Medicine and Professor of Radiology, University of Rochester. |
| 1943 | Director, Atomic Energy Project, University of Rochester. |
| 1943-1946 | Chief, Medical Section, and Adviser to the Commanding General, Manhattan Project; Chief, Radiological Safety Section and Adviser, Joint Task Force One, for the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, 1946. |
| 1945 | Awarded Distingushed Service Medal for outstanding participation in the atomic bomb development. |
| 1946 | Investigator, effects of radiation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |
| 1947-1962 | Dean of the School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. |
| 1962-1963 | Vice-Chancellor for Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles. |
| 1963-1965 | Special Assistant to the President (Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson), with responsibility for co-ordinating programs to combat mental retardation. |
| 1965-1981 | Professor Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles. |
| 1970 | On July 18, married Gertrude Turner Hubberty. |
| 1972 | Presented the Enrico Fermi Award by the Atomic Energy Commission for especially meritorious contributions to the deveopment, use and control of atomic energy. |
| 1981 | Died on July 26, in Pacific Palisades, California. |
The above account was compiled from the following sources:
The Annual Obituary. Ed. Janet Podrell. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1981.
Who's Who in California. 12th. ed. San Clemente, California, 1979.
Obituary notices in the
Los Angeles Times, Part 2, p. 1, July 28, 1981,
UCLA Librarian, vol.34 no.9 (October 1981), pp.71-77,
UCLA Monthly, vol.12 no.1 (September-October 1981).
Collection consists of Warren's professional papers, documenting every major phase of his career. Half the papers consist
of glass slides, printed items, photographs and materials assembled in connection with Warren's research interests, including
fever therapy, arthritis, and the effects of shock. The bulk of the papers cover 1940 onward, including Warren's participation
in the Manhattan Project and Operation Crossroads, and his subsequent involvement with issues and work with atomic bomb development
and radiation effects.
Expanded Scope and Content Note
Almost all the papers of Stafford L. Warren here listed were donated to the UCLA Library on April 19, 1982, by his widow,
Mrs. Gertrude Warren. A small number of items, consisting mostly of government publications and materials relating to Dr.
Warren's research interests at the University of Rochester and his work on mental retardation as Special Adviser to the President,
were received in the 1960s, when records relating to his Deanship of the UCLA School of Medicine, of which he was the founding
Dean, were transferred to the University Archives.
Apart from a very few items of personal memorabilia, the collection comprises Dr. Warren's professional papers and provides
some documentation for every major phase of his career. Roughly half the papers consist of glass slides, printed items, photographs
and other materials assembled by Dr. Warren in connection with his various research interests, which included fever therapy,
arthritis and the effects of shock. Although the papers cover the years from 1917 to circa 1980, the bulk of them is for the
1940s onwards, including his participation in the Manhattan Project and Operation Crossroads, and subsequent involvement with
issues and consultant work arising from his experience with atomic bomb development and radiation effects.
The file order in existance at the time of transfer of the papers has been retained with few exceptions. The exceptions are
as follows: items from the earlier transfer have been brought together with items donated in 1982, to which they were clearly
related, as far as possible given the level of processing for some parts of the collection. Appendix A lists former (no longer
used) numbers of boxes and their present number. Some items of Dr. Warren's found among the papers of his first wife, Viola,
(also donated in 1982; Department of Special Collections numbered collection 1322), have been placed with related material
in this collection. Transfers from the Viola Warren papers are noted in the register.
The arrangement of the papers described in detail in Sections II (Boxes 57-70) and III of the register, relating to the Manhattan
Project and Operation Crossroads, has been left exactly as found at the time of transfer of this material as part of the 1982
donation noted above, from Dr. Warren's office on campus to the UCLA Library's Department of Special Collections. Titles and
names of authors, addressees and places have been transcribed as they appear in the documents themselves, except for Stafford
Warren's, which is abbreviated to SLW throughout the listing. Except for issues of the
Oakridge Journal, glass slides and motion picture film, these two series and part of Box 113 have been microfilmed both for preservation purposes
and to facilitate the making of copies of the originals, some of which are on papers which are of poor quality. Appendix B
lists film reel and image numbers in relation to original document reference numbers.
The Warren papers are complemented by an oral history of Dr. Warren conducted by the UCLA Oral History Program,
An Exceptional Man for Exceptional Challenges, Los Angeles, 1983. (Department of Special Collections call number: 300/204).
Prior to donation to the UCLA Library, some parts of the Warren papers, including material relating to Dr. Warren's participation
in the Manhatten Engineering District and Operation Crossroads projects, had been arranged and boxed in several similarly
numbered sequences. In addition, as part of the preliminary processing of the collection, a considerable amount of material
originally housed in filing cabinets, was transferred as filed in the drawers into document boxes or cartons and given a temporary
number to preserve filing cabinet location and internal order until it could be examined more thoroughly as part of the processing
of the collection as a whole.
As part of the processing of the collection, all boxes have now been systematically numbered with a unique and final number.
Please see in-house paper finding aid for more information.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Warren, Stafford L. (Stafford Leak), 1896-1981--Archives.
Manhattan Project (U.S.).
Operation Crossroads, 1946.
Physicians--United States--Archival resources.
College administrators--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources.
Nuclear energy--Research.
Atomic bomb--Physiological effect--Research.
Mental retardation--Research.
- An Exceptional Man for Exceptional Challenges [oral history transcript] / Stafford L. Warren, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1983. Available at Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- University of California, Los Angeles. School of Medicine. Administrative files of Stafford L. Warren, 1925-1968. Available at Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Viola Lockhart Warren Papers (Collection 1322). Available at Department of Special Collections, UCLA.