Theodore Rockwell Papers, 1915-2013

Series I is composed of correspondence to and from Ted Rockwell and spans his career at MPR Associates, Inc. through his retirement. This series is largely comprised of correspondence relating to Rockwell's two primary interests--nuclear power and parapsychology. Correspondents include friends, family, colleagues, journalists, policymakers, organizational representatives, and fellow parapsychology enthusiasts. Of particular note is correspondence with Jim Muckerheide (RSH, Inc. co-founder), William Wegner (Naval Reactors alum and colleague), and Teed Rockwell (son and coauthor). Subjects include Admiral Rickover and the development of the United States' nuclear navy, nuclear power and energy production in the United States and abroad, developments in parapsychology research, and Rockwell's participation in nuclear energy and parapsychology organizations and initiatives such as the American Nuclear Society, the Naval Reactors alumni group, the Parapsychological Association, and the National Institute for Discovery Science.

The series also includes materials relating to Rockwell's book and article publishing efforts consisting of correspondence with the U.S. Naval Institute Press and iUniverse, publisher solicitations, draft reviews, reader inquiries, and marketing and sales information.

Series II is comprised of materials documenting Rockwell's personal life. Included are biographical sketches and transcripts from two oral history interviews with Rockwell; coursework and materials from his primary school education, New Trier High School, and Princeton University; fifteen notebooks generated by Rockwell containing to-do lists, contact information, and records of day-to-day activities; a series of essays on literature and writing collected by Rockwell; and an assortment of ephemera including two journal entries and a small "Victoria Para la Democracia" leaflet documenting his 1947 trip to Havana, Cuba, a ticket stub from the 1961 U.S presidential inauguration, a ticket stub from a 1961 dinner honoring Republican Congressional members, a series of souvenir letters from the Dionne Quintuplets, and a photocopied collection of sensational newspaper headlines featuring individuals with the Rockwell surname.

The series also includes materials written by Rockwell for publication in the New Trier News, Winnetka Talk, and the Princeton Sunday News; an article entitled "Bred for Fury", on cockfighting published in True Magazine; and drafts, correspondence, research materials, and promotional items from several other books and articles authored by Rockwell including The Virtual Librarian, a mystery novel pitting a group of psychics against sentient library software, Us vs. Them, an exploration of conflict in modern society, and Vice Versa, a trilogy of one-act plays.

Series III includes correspondence, design documents, and reference materials from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee where Rockwell worked as a process improvement engineer and a radiation shielding engineer between 1943 and 1949. Of particular note is a series of correspondence from Rockwell to his parents documenting his life and work from 1940-1946 at Princeton and ORNL, including observations of life at ORNL, descriptions of his day-to-day activities, and newsclippings and discussion of the significance of atomic energy following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The series also includes a file on security at ORNL; technical reports authored on Rockwell's work in radiation shielding; documentation from the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology, including a mock diploma granting a "Doctor[ate] of Nuclear Husbandry"; an article by Rockwell entitled "Frontier Life Among the Atom Splitters" that appeared in a December 1945 issue of The Saturday Evening Post; and drafts of "Putting Wings on the Atom," a later article discussing nuclear-powered aircraft. Also included are materials from the Association of Scientists for Atomic Education and the Association of Oak Ridge Engineers and Scientists documenting efforts to place the United States' atomic energy program under civilian control. The series also contains several images of housing and work at Oak Ridge during and after the war years in both print and photocopy format.

This series also contains extensive informational and promotional materials documenting the role of the Manhattan Project in ending World War II and includes materials from Rockwell's book Creating the New World, records of Oak Ridge's 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1992, issues of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review, and materials from the Atomic Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Association, the National Atomic Museum, and the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, and a file on former ORNL Director Clarence Edward Larson.

Series IV is comprised of materials relating to Rockwell's involvement in the development of the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered fleet from 1949-1964. The series includes design documents; correspondence, including letters from Admiral Rickover; technical reports authored by Rockwell; Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program Reports; materials from the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships (BuShips); and nuclear reactor case histories. The series also includes materials generated and collected by William Wegner and John W. Crawford, Jr., both members of Admiral Rickover's administrative team comprising professional correspondence, reports, speeches, and reference materials dating from their Navy careers, biographical sketches, and personal correspondence with Rockwell. Also included are subject files relating to the Sasebo, Japan contamination incident and the capture of German submarine U-234.

The series also contains extensive Navy memorabilia including invitations and programs from numerous Navy events such as keel layings, launchings, and decommissionings; promotional booklets and pamphlets; ship and shipyard newsletters; photographs; presskits; and documents provided to non-crewmen aboard ships. The collection also includes commemorative envelopes, or cachets, honoring Navy events and historical moments in ocean exploration and flight. Many envelopes were sent to Rockwell courtesy of Admiral Rickover and include letters from Rickover and other Navy personnel, photographs, and memorabilia. Vessels represented in the collection include the USS Enterprise, Nautilus, Sea Wolf, Skipjack, and Triton, among others.

The series also represents Rockwell's interest in the achievements of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover which culminated in The Rickover Effect, a 1992 biography of the Admiral published by the U.S. Naval Institute Press. The series includes correspondence, drafts, reviews, and promotion and publishing files relating to The Rickover Effect, an extensive collection of reports, newspaper clippings, publications, speeches, and correspondence reflecting the life and work of Admiral Rickover, documents from the PBS documentary Rickover: The Birth of Nuclear Power, and materials from an incomplete project concept to produce a motion picture film on the life of Rickover.

Series V is comprised of documents relating to the operation of MPR Associates, Inc., a nuclear engineering firm founded in 1964 by Naval Reactors alumni Harry Mandil, Robert Panoff, and Theodore Rockwell. The series includes information on a proposed partnership between MPR and Toshiba to develop and evaluate Dr. Sadao Hattori's 4S Reactor; a file on MPR employee Norman Cole, Jr.; company correspondence and meeting minutes; a proposed partnership between MPR and the Lewis-Sigler Genomics Institute; a series of documents collected by Rockwell reflecting MPR's company philosophy; and MPR promotional materials including event invitations, an informational pamphlet, several issues of company publication MPR Profile, and essays on professional engineering by Panoff and Rockwell. The series also includes files on nuclear medicine, reactor safety, Ranque-Hilsch vortex tubes, a diagram of an MPR design for a nuclear-powered merchant ship, and transparencies from a speech titled "On Being a Professional" given by Rockwell at an MPR informational meeting.

Series VI is comprised of documents from Radiation, Science, and Health, Inc., a not-for-profit nuclear power advocacy organization founded by James Muckerheide (president) and Ted Rockwell (vice president) in 1996. RHS was founded as a tool for independent radiation experts to influence radiation policy, especially relating to restrictions governing low level radiation. The series includes internal correspondence and documents; promotional correspondence to RSH members and supporters; lobbying correspondence to legislators and other government officials; subject files on radiation exposure; reports from the National Research Council (NRC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and documents regarding partnerships with the Washington Legal Foundation and Eagle Alliance.

Of particular interest are materials documenting RSH's 2000-2003 challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's rules on radionuclides in drinking water. This includes several editions of RSH's report "Low Level Radiation Health Effects: Compiling the Data," an official response to the EPA's drinking water policy, and documentation from a lawsuit filed against the EPA by the city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, the Nuclear Energy Institute, Inc., the National Mining Association, and RHS, Inc.

Series VII is comprised of research materials generated, collected, and assembled by Rockwell relating to nuclear energy and is reflective of his pro-nuclear position. The series includes correspondence; clippings, photocopies, and web articles from popular media sources such as Newsweek, Time, and Science; informational and promotional materials from pro- and anti-nuclear interest groups; technical reports; newsletters; and an extensive body of material written for speaking events and publications by Rockwell.

Much of the collection addresses the role of nuclear power as an energy source in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and the health and environmental effects of exposure to low level radiation. Other topics include regulation and regulatory reform in the nuclear power industry; nuclear disasters including Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima Daiichi; the utility of non-nuclear fuel sources; public opinion, fear, and misinformation regarding radiation safety; nuclear waste management; nuclear terrorism; and nuclear legislation. The series includes materials from a variety of special interest groups such as the Atomic Industrial Forum, Americans for Nuclear Energy, the American Nuclear Society, Eagle Alliance, and Greenpeace. Also included are publications and correspondence from professionals in the nuclear power industry including T.D. Luckey, Jim Muckerheide, Jerry Cuttler, Myron Pollycove, John Cameron, Jovan Jovanovich, and Sadao Hattori. Materials in the collection also address the effects of radiation therapy and include publications and firsthand accounts documenting the treatment of Edward J. Bauser, a Navy colleague of Rockwell. Documents containing unpublished information regarding Bauser's health and medical treatment are restricted.

The series also includes drafts and published copies of articles, books, and speeches written by Rockwell in support of increased reliance on nuclear energy on a global scale. Included are materials from his book Power to the People, notes from his participation in a 2009 GOP Senate hearing, and copies of numerous articles published in industry and popular publications.

Series VIII is comprised of materials collected and generated by Rockwell pertaining to the field of parapsychology. Topics include conciousness studies; extrasensory perception; psychokinesis; healing (energy, faith, psychic, etc.); acupuncture, chiropractic, and Rolfing; homoeopathy, dietary supplementation, and herbal remedies; dowsing; energy manipulation; forecasting; time manipulation; and UFOs, alien abductions, and extraterrestrial life.

The series is comprised largely of promotional and informational materials from organizations in the field of parapsychology including interest and research groups, manufacturers and retailers, and educational programs. Organizations represented in this series include the Academy of Religion and Psychical Research, the Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies, the Institute for Noetic Sciences, the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, the Monroe Institute, and the Parapsychological Association. The series also reflects Rockwell's role as Vice President of the United States Psychotronic Association and advisory council member of the National Institue of Discovery Science. Personalities within the parapsychology community featured in the Rockwell Papers include Anne Gehman, Christopher Bird, Cleve Backster, Robert A. Nash, James Randi, Dean Radin, Robert Jahn, and Rhea White. Of particular note is an extensive collection of materials documenting Rockwell's friendship with Bruce and John Klingbeil, a father-son pair of faith healers and founders of Spindrift, Inc., a research group based out of Salem, Oregon. Materials include publication drafts, cassette tapes, and informational materials from Spindrift and the Grayhaven School of Christian Science Nursing, as well as correspondence addressing the Klingbeils' faith healing research and personal struggles within the First Church of Christ, Scientist, the publication of The Spindrift Papers, and the deaths and legacy of the two men.

Included in this series are correspondence, newsletters, serial publications, informational materials, and advertisements from numerous organizations and educational programs, and an extensive body of newsclippings. Also included is a dream journal kept by Rockwell from 1975-1976, a notebook recording experiments in psychokinesis conducted by Rockwell with celebrity psychic Anne Gehman, and a small collection of bent spoons. The series also includes records from Rockwell's robust publishing history focusing on the relationship between science and parapsychology.