Frank Oppenheimer

Frank Friedman Oppenheimer (August 14, 1912 – February 3, 1985) was an American particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, and the founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

The younger brother of renowned physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Frank Oppenheimer conducted research on aspects of nuclear physics during the time of the Manhattan Project, and made contributions to uranium enrichment. After the war, Oppenheimer's earlier involvement with the American Communist Party placed him under scrutiny, and he resigned from his physics position at the University of Minnesota. Oppenheimer was a target of McCarthyism and was blacklisted from finding any physics teaching position in the United States until 1957, when he was allowed to teach science at a high school in Colorado. This rehabilitation allowed him to gain a position at the University of Colorado teaching physics. In 1969, Oppenheimer founded the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and he served as its first director until his death in 1985.

Early life and education

Frank Friedman Oppenheimer was born on August 14, 1912 in New York City into a non-observant Jewish family. His parents were Ella (née Friedman), a painter, and Julius Seligmann Oppenheimer, a successful textile importer from Hanau in the Kingdom of Prussia. During his childhood, he studied painting. He also studied the flute under nationally known flutist Georges Barrère, becoming competent enough at the instrument to consider a career as a flautist.

He was close to his brother Robert throughout their lives.

Oppenheimer began his schooling at the Ethical Culture School, where he attended until seventh grade. The remainder of his high school education was completed at Fieldston School in Riverdale, a school operated by the Ethical Culture Society.

Following the advice of his older brother Robert, he became a professional physicist. In 1930 he began his studies at Johns Hopkins University, graduating three years later with a B.S. in physics. In 1935, he worked on the development of nuclear particle counters at the Institute di Arcetri in Florence, Italy.

While completing his PhD at the California Institute of Technology, Oppenheimer became engaged to Jacquenette Quann, an economics student at the University of California, Berkeley; she was also active in the Young Communist League. In spite of his brother Robert's advice, Oppenheimer and Jackie were married in 1936 and they both joined the American Communist Party, also against the older brother's advice. Oppenheimer and his wife were atheists.

Oppenheimer received his PhD in 1939 and completed two postdoctoral years at Stanford University. In late 1943 he arrived at the Los Alamos Laboratory, working directly under Kenneth T. Bainbridge. His responsibilities included the instrumentation for the Trinity test site, in New Mexico. This organization promoted international peaceful control of nuclear power. He later also joined the Federation of American Scientists, and was a member of the American Physical Society. where he participated in the discovery of heavy cosmic ray nuclei.

Political scrutiny and blacklisting

thumb|The home that once belonged to Frank Oppenheimer, on his cattle ranch in the valley of the [[Rio Blanco (Colorado)|Rio Blanco in the mountains near Pagosa Springs, Colorado]]

On July 12, 1947, the Washington Times Herald reported that Oppenheimer had been a member of the Communist Party during the years 1937–1939. At first, he denied these reports, but later said they were true. In June 1949, as part of a larger investigation on the possible mishandling of "atomic secrets" during the war, he was called before the United States Congress House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Before the committee, he testified that he and his wife had been members of the Communist Party for about three and a half years. In 1937 they had been involved in local attempts to desegregate the Pasadena public swimming pool, which was open to non-white people only on Wednesday.

Oppenheimer said he and his wife had joined at a time when they sought answers to the high unemployment experienced in the United States during the later part of the Great Depression. He refused to name others he knew to be members. This caused a media sensation—that J. Robert Oppenheimer's brother was a former member of the Communist Party—and led to Oppenheimer resigning his post at the University of Minnesota.

After being branded a Communist, Oppenheimer could no longer find work in physics in the United States, and he was also denied a passport, preventing him from working abroad.

Return to teaching

In 1957, the Red Scare had lessened to the point that Oppenheimer was allowed to teach science at a local high school.

Frank taught a number of subjects within the field of science such as chemistry, physics, biology in addition to general science at the local High School in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. He expressed his driving force to teach was to simply share his appreciation and skills to the youth, and to prepare them for learning as if they might prepare for higher education in the field of science.

Under Oppenheimer's tutelage, several students from Pagosa Springs High School took first prize at the Colorado State Science Fair.

Exploratorium

thumb|right|upright=1.2|Oppenheimer as Director of the [[Exploratorium standing next to the Coupled Pendulums exhibit 1980]]

In 1965, Oppenheimer was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study the history of physics and to conduct bubble chamber research at University College London, where he was exposed to European science museums for the first time. The San Francisco Foundation gave a $50,000 grant to Oppenheimer to open the facility.

Oppenheimer had a lifelong belief in the importance of art in an equal and closely connected relationship to science. The exhibits were arranged and structured to allow for free access to any part of the museum. Instead of tour guides, fifteen to twenty college students or secondary students, as well as some adults, were employed as "explainers". They demonstrate the exhibits and explain the principles involved all while circulating among visitors, rather than guiding them along.

Legacy

When Oppenheimer died in 1985, he was survived by his second wife Mildred, son Michael, and daughter Judith — as well as a third child, Sarah, from a relationship he had with the wife of a friend and colleague at the University of Colorado.

Sarah had been raised by her mother and the colleague and only learned of her relationship to Oppenheimer when she was contacted in 2019 by Oppenheimer's son, Michael. Sarah and Michael verified their genetic relationship in 2020. A brief account of the affair can be found in Judy Oppenheimer's book From Deedle to Dr. Judy: A Memoir of Metamorphosis.

Oppenheimer's papers and archives were transferred to the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, including over 60 technical and nontechnical papers he'd authored. Historical archives of the Exploratorium (1957–present) are also kept at the Bancroft. The University of Minnesota holds archives covering Oppenheimer's physics work during 1946–1959.

Oppenheimer considered the Exploratorium and its educational programs to be his most important accomplishment and legacy. A collection of selected Oppenheimer papers on science, art, and education is available online at the Exploratorium website.

Garrick Hagon portrayed Oppenheimer in the 1980 BBC series, Oppenheimer. Dylan Arnold plays the role of Frank Oppenheimer in the 2023 biopic film Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan.

Awards

Distinguished Service Award, University of Colorado
Distinguished Alumni Award, Caltech
Guggenheim Fellowship 1965
Millikan Award, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) 1973
Distinguished Service Award, American Association of Museums (AAM) 1982
Oersted Medal, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) 1984
Kirkwood Award for Distinguished Service, Caltech

References

External links

Oral history interview transcript with Frank Oppenheimer on 9 February 1973, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session I
Oral history interview transcript with Frank Oppenheimer on 9 February 1973, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session II
Caltech oral history interview
Frank Oppenheimer site at the Exploratorium, including an archive of selected papers
Annotated bibliography for Frank Oppenheimer from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
Frank Oppenheimer Papers, 1946–1959, University of Minnesota Archives
Guide to the Frank Oppenheimer Papers at The Bancroft Library
Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens