Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Emilio Segre Collection
Segre, Rosa, Estate of
Segre, Emilio
NMAH.AC.0691
Archival Resource Key
0.25 Cubic feet
1 box, 1 map-folder
1942-1997
Papers relating to the career of the nuclear physicist Emilio Segre, including a set of previously classified, now unclassified government documents including correspondence, laboratory reports and memoranda, relating to Segre's research; several diplomas and honorary awards and the programs from the ceremonies at which they were conferred.
English
.
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open for research. Gloves required with unprotected photographs.
Scope and Contents
This collection is divided into two series: Series 1: Manhattan Project, 1942-1947 and Series 2: Awards, Diplomas, and Other Documents, 1945-1997. Series 1 consists of correspondence, research findings, monthly reports, and patent filing documents associated with Emilio Segrè's work on the atom bomb at the Los Alamos Laboratories in New Mexico. Individuals represented in this series include: Farrington Daniels, Enrico Fermi, Marshall G. Holloway, John Jungerman, Joseph W. Kennedy, W.M. Manning, G.T. Seaborg, Edward Teller, Richard C. Tolman, and Clyde Wiegand. Series 2 contains numerous awards, diplomas, certificates, booklets, and posters related to Emilio Segrè.
Preferred Citation
Emilio Segre Collection,1942-1997, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by Rosa Segre Estate, through Peggy Cabaniss, August 27, 1998.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Mitch Toda, 2004.
Biographical / Historical
Emilio Segrè was born in Tivoli, Italy in 1905 and studied engineering at the University of Rome in 1922. He would later study under Enrico Fermi, receiving his doctorate in physics in 1928. Segrè was appointed as assistant professor at the University of Rome, but would later leave in 1936 to become the director of the physics laboratory at the University of Palermo. While visiting California in 1938, Segrè found himself dismissed from the University of Palermo by the Fascist government. Thus he remained in the United States and became a research associate in the Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Renowned in the field of nuclear physics, Segrè was a team leader at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories in New Mexico working on the atom bomb.
Segrè was naturalized as a United States citizen in 1944 and went on to be a professor of physics as Berkeley from 1946-1972. He was later appointed as professor of nuclear physics at the University of Rome in 1974. Working primarily in the field of atomic, nuclear, and particle physics, Segrè's work lead to the co-discovery of the elements Technetium, Astatine, and Plutonium-239, as well as of the slow neutron and the anti-proton. Together with Owen Chamberlain, Segrè received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1959 for the discovery of the anti-proton.
He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and received many honors from universities and governments throughout the world. His investigations in nuclear physics have increased our understanding of the production methods of nuclear energy.
Related Materials
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
There are numerous medals, plaques, and other objects that relate to Emilio SegrŠ in the Numismatics Collection, and the Division of Medicine and Science (now Division of Medicine and Science). See Accession #1999.0027.
Atomic bomb
Nuclear energy
Technical reports
Programs
Physics -- History
Physicists
Atoms
Nuclear warfare
Correspondence -- 1940-2000
Government records
Awards
Diplomas
Manhattan Project
Series 1
Archival Resource Key
1942-1947
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1942
1
1
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1943
1
2
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1944
1
3
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1945
1
4
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1946
1
5
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1947
1
6
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
7
Awards, Diplomas, and Other Documents
Series 2
Archival Resource Key
1945-1997
Booklet – "Liceo Scientifico Gino Segrè," published by Provincia di Torino
Archival Resource Key
1963
1
8
Booklet – "Profiles of Progress: The Story of 16 Nobel Laureates," published by Scientific Products
Archival Resource Key
1965
1
9
Diploma of election to membership in National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Archival Resource Key
1952-04-29
1
Diploma of election to membership in the Lynceorum Academia
Archival Resource Key
1958-08-22
1
Diploma associated with the award of the "San Valentino" Medal
Archival Resource Key
1972-02-14
1
Diploma, "Maticola d'Onove/1975," of "Assne Laureati Ateneo Ticinense," depicting the statues of Galileo and Volta animated welcoming Segrè to Italian shores
Archival Resource Key
1975
1
Diploma of nomination as "Socio Onorario" in the Acádemia Ligure di Scienze e Lettere
Archival Resource Key
1986-02-27
1
Diploma as Socio Onorario of La Societá Italiana di Biologica e Medicina Nucleare
Archival Resource Key
1987-05-04
1
Diploma of conferral of "la Laurea 'ad honoreum' di Dottore in Chimica," University of Genoa,
Archival Resource Key
1988
1
Posters for the Emilio Segrè Distinguished Lectureship series, University of California, Berkeley
Archival Resource Key
1987
1
Edoardo Amaldi, Emeritus Professor of Phyics, University of Rome, "The Search for Gravitational Waves
Archival Resource Key
1987-11-11
1
Chien-Shiung Wu, Pupin Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, "The Discovery of Non Conservation of Parity in Beta-Decay
Archival Resource Key
1988-09-28
1
Herbert F. York, Professor and Director Emeritus, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, "The Nuclear Cold War: Phases and Transitions,
Archival Resource Key
1989-11-15
1
Jack Steinberger, Physicist at CERN and Nobel Laureate in Physics (1988), "First Results at LEP
Archival Resource Key
1990-10-03
1
Michael Berry, F.R.S., Professor of Physics, University of Bristol, "The Geometric Phase: Anticipation and Analogies
Archival Resource Key
1991-11-26
1
Hans A. Bethe, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University and Nobel Laureate in Physics (1967), "The Supernova Mechanism
Archival Resource Key
1993-02-10
1
Joseph Taylor, Professor of Physics, Princeton University and Nobel Laureate in Physics (1993), "Binary Pulsars and Relativistic Gravity
Archival Resource Key
1993-11-17
1
Theodor W. Hänsch, Max-Plank-Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching and Professor of Physics, University of Munich, Germany, "Hydrogen and Fundamental Physics
Archival Resource Key
November
1
Bertrand I. Halperin, Professor of Physics, Harvard University, "Quantum Mechanics and Electrons in Strong Magnetic Fields
Archival Resource Key
1991-10-09
1
Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky, Professor and Director Emeritus, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, "The Physical Heritage of the Cold War
Archival Resource Key
1996-10-28
1
Wolfgang Ketterle, Professor of Physics, Research Laboratory of Electronics and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, "When Atoms Behave as Waves: Bose-Einstein Condensation and the Atom Laser,
Archival Resource Key
1997-10-06
1
Certificate of appreciation from the U.S. War Department for work on the atomic bomb
Archival Resource Key
1945-08-06
1
Portfolio of illustrations for "Profiles of Progress: The Story of 16 Nobel Laureates
Archival Resource Key
1965
1
Certificate conferring Segrè as "L'onorificenza di Grande Uffiziale" in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Archival Resource Key
1968-06-02
1
Degree from the President of the Italian Republic
Archival Resource Key
1975-06-02
1
Proclamation of the Mayor of San Francisco, Dianne Feinstein, naming May 24, 1986, as "Professor Emilio Segrè Day in San Francisco
Archival Resource Key
1986-05-20
1
Resolution of the California State Senate honoring Emilo Segrè's achievements in the field of nuclear physics, by Senator Milton Marks
Archival Resource Key
1986-05-23
1
Resolution of the California State Legislature honoring Emilio Segrè's achievements, by the Honorable Don Sebastiani
Archival Resource Key
1986-05-23
1