This month’s calendar features the statues of J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Lesie Groves located in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The sculpture of the directors of the Manhattan Project were designed to memorialize the historic photo of the two men standing at Ground Zero at the Trinity Site after the successful test of the plutonium bomb on July 16, 1945.
The bronze statues were created by Santa Fe artist Susanne Vertel, who created the life-size statue of Oppenheimer through the Shidoni foundry. However, the foundry closed before completing the Groves statue, which was cast by a Colorado foundry. Thus explains why their patinas are a little different.
The statues are at the intersection of Central Avenue and Bathtub Row, near Fuller Lodge. The dedication occured on May 19, 2011, with grandchildren and great-grandchildren of both men present for the ceremony.
In addition to the photo of Oppenheimer and Groves, this month’s calendar features all 141 atomic shots that occured in May from 1952-1989. Unfortunately, that means there wasn’t room for some May events, but you can find some of them at the Atomic Heritage Foundation timeline at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History web site.
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