Truman on "atomic bomb" & "Manhattan District Project" - Only Signed Mention In Private Hands; Most Important Event of the 20th Century!
Harry Truman
Washington DC, ca. 1946
Truman on "atomic bomb" & "Manhattan District Project" - Only Signed Mention In Private Hands; Most Important Event of the 20th Century!
Archive
Exceptionally important World War II document signed as President "Harry S. Truman," awarding the Medal for Merit posthumously to Charles M. Hay, Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the War Manpower Commission. Truman states, "He took a personal interest in seeing that the manpower needs of the Manhattan District Project in development of the atomic bomb were met." The document dates to the postwar period, when Truman was presenting Medals for Merit recognizing exceptional civilian wartime service; documented White House presentations of the award occurred throughout 1946. Truman would award the Medal for Merit to individuals whose work made significant contributions to the American war effort. Some foxing and expected age wear mentioned only for accuracy, boldly signed.
Leslie Groves directed the military organization of the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer led the scientific work at Los Alamos, and as Truman's own citation records, Charles M. Hay ensured that "the manpower needs of the Manhattan District Project in development of the atomic bomb were met."
Very few signed Truman documents, yet alone documents signed as President, have surfaced with a direct mention of the atomic bomb, and we have yet to see a direct mention of the Manhattan project in any document. We record two press releases - mimeographed documents on multiple pages and thus less displayable - that mention the bomb and were signed as souvenirs much later, and which averaged $55,000 at auction. The most recent was Sotheby's way back in 2011. Heritage Auctions sold a letter signed in 1961 by Truman for $237,500. Significantly, Truman did not make the atomic bomb a subject upon which he frequently dwelled publicly. The decision was one he defended rather than celebrated. Unlike so many of the political controversies of his presidency, Hiroshima represented something unprecedented: the first presidential authorization of a nuclear weapon against a populated target. Truman later reflected upon the terrible solitude inherent in that authority—the President alone ultimately having to answer the question of whether such a weapon should be used.
Accompanying the Truman citation is an important archive of Charles M. Hay material documenting his wartime service and advancement within the War Manpower Commission. The group includes a December 16, 1944 TLS from Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall to Hay, thanking him for his note concerning a recent dinner for the Regional Directors of the War Manpower Commission and offering his good wishes; a fantastic Harris & Ewing photographic portrait of Harry S. Truman personally inscribed to Hay, "Best wishes to Hon. Chas. M. Hay, whom I greatly admire," and signed "Harry Truman, U.S.S. Mo."; two official personnel records documenting Hay's July 1943 appointment as General Counsel of the War Manpower Commission and his June 1944 transfer and reassignment to Deputy Chairman and Executive Director; an official U.S. Civil Service Commission Notice of Official Efficiency Rating recording Hay's performance as "Excellent"; and a War Manpower Commission Training Within Industry Job Relations Training card/certificate issued to Charles M. Hay. Together, these documents provide an unusually detailed record of Hay's wartime government service and place the posthumous Medal for Merit citation within the immediate personal and administrative context of the work for which Truman honored him. The Truman Medal for Merit citation measures 8" x 10.325"; the George C. Marshall TLS measures 6.875" x 8.75"; the War Manpower Commission card measures 4" x 2.5"; each of the two personnel documents measures 7.875" x 10.325"; the Efficiency Rating measures 8" x 5.125"; and the Truman signed photograph measures 9.25" x 13.25".
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Harry Truman
Washington DC, ca. 1946
Truman on "atomic bomb" & "Manhattan District Project" - Only Signed Mention In Private Hands; Most Important Event of the 20th Century!
Archive
Exceptionally important World War II document signed as President "Harry S. Truman," awarding the Medal for Merit posthumously to Charles M. Hay, Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the War Manpower Commission. Truman states, "He took a personal interest in seeing that the manpower needs of the Manhattan District Project in development of the atomic bomb were met." The document dates to the postwar period, when Truman was presenting Medals for Merit recognizing exceptional civilian wartime service; documented White House presentations of the award occurred throughout 1946. Truman would award the Medal for Merit to individuals whose work made significant contributions to the American war effort. Some foxing and expected age wear mentioned only for accuracy, boldly signed.
Leslie Groves directed the military organization of the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer led the scientific work at Los Alamos, and as Truman's own citation records, Charles M. Hay ensured that "the manpower needs of the Manhattan District Project in development of the atomic bomb were met."
Very few signed Truman documents, yet alone documents signed as President, have surfaced with a direct mention of the atomic bomb, and we have yet to see a direct mention of the Manhattan project in any document. We record two press releases - mimeographed documents on multiple pages and thus less displayable - that mention the bomb and were signed as souvenirs much later, and which averaged $55,000 at auction. The most recent was Sotheby's way back in 2011. Heritage Auctions sold a letter signed in 1961 by Truman for $237,500. Significantly, Truman did not make the atomic bomb a subject upon which he frequently dwelled publicly. The decision was one he defended rather than celebrated. Unlike so many of the political controversies of his presidency, Hiroshima represented something unprecedented: the first presidential authorization of a nuclear weapon against a populated target. Truman later reflected upon the terrible solitude inherent in that authority—the President alone ultimately having to answer the question of whether such a weapon should be used.
Accompanying the Truman citation is an important archive of Charles M. Hay material documenting his wartime service and advancement within the War Manpower Commission. The group includes a December 16, 1944 TLS from Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall to Hay, thanking him for his note concerning a recent dinner for the Regional Directors of the War Manpower Commission and offering his good wishes; a fantastic Harris & Ewing photographic portrait of Harry S. Truman personally inscribed to Hay, "Best wishes to Hon. Chas. M. Hay, whom I greatly admire," and signed "Harry Truman, U.S.S. Mo."; two official personnel records documenting Hay's July 1943 appointment as General Counsel of the War Manpower Commission and his June 1944 transfer and reassignment to Deputy Chairman and Executive Director; an official U.S. Civil Service Commission Notice of Official Efficiency Rating recording Hay's performance as "Excellent"; and a War Manpower Commission Training Within Industry Job Relations Training card/certificate issued to Charles M. Hay. Together, these documents provide an unusually detailed record of Hay's wartime government service and place the posthumous Medal for Merit citation within the immediate personal and administrative context of the work for which Truman honored him. The Truman Medal for Merit citation measures 8" x 10.325"; the George C. Marshall TLS measures 6.875" x 8.75"; the War Manpower Commission card measures 4" x 2.5"; each of the two personnel documents measures 7.875" x 10.325"; the Efficiency Rating measures 8" x 5.125"; and the Truman signed photograph measures 9.25" x 13.25".
In full:
"CITATION T
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
