The papers of Edward L. Bowles consist mostly of correspondence and memoranda regarding the military applications of science and technology, and a summary of the activities of Dr. Bowles as a consultant to the military during World War II.

Size: Less than one-half of one linear foot (around 400 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The Truman Library received no donation of copyright with this collection. Documents created by U.S. government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Sarah Bell (2009) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

1897 (December 9)		Born Edward Lindley Bowles, Westphalia, Missouri
1920		B.S. degree, Washington University
1920-1937		Member of the faculty, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
1922		M.S. degree, MIT
1937-1963		Professor, MIT
1942-1947		Consultant to the Secretary of War
1945		D.Sc. degree, Norwich University
1947-1951		Scientific Consultant, U.S. Air Force
1951-1952		Consultant to the Secretary of the Army
1990 (January 5)		Died, Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts

The papers of Edward L. Bowles are comprised of correspondence and memoranda regarding the military applications of science and technology, along with a summary of Bowles’s activities as a consultant to the Secretary of War during the 1942-1945 period.

Much of the collection consists of memoranda written by Bowles as a military consultant after World War II. Also included in the collection are letters written to Bowles commending him on his work as a consultant.

Among the memoranda in the collection are “Scientific and Technological Resources as Military Assets,” which was drafted by Bowles for General Dwight D. Eisenhower in April 1946; and “Military Communications and National Security,” which Bowles sent to Eisenhower in March 1947. Other documents include information concerning the Office of Scientific Research and Development and the relationship between the military and civilian science and industry.

Also included in the collection is a report entitled “A Summary of the Activities of the Office of Dr. Edward L. Bowles, Expert Consultant to the Secretary of War and Special Consultant to the Commanding General, Army Air Forces, During the Period April 1942 through August 1945.” This report includes a table of contents and a detailed description of Dr. Bowles’s duties as a consultant.

Related collections at the Truman Library include the papers of Harry S. Truman (Official File 53), William Golden, and K. T. Keller.

Container Nos.		Series
1		SUBJECT FILE, 1942-1975
		Correspondence, memoranda, and reports. Arranged alphabetically.

SUBJECT FILE, 1942-1975

• Articles
• Correspondence, 1945-1950
  [1 of 2]
  [2 of 2]
• Correspondence Between Edward L. Bowles and Sylvie Turner, John F. Kennedy Library
• “Summary of Activities,” 1942-1945
  [1 of 2]
  [2 of 2]

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