The Decision to
Drop the Atomic Bomb
(Small Collection, or Mini
"B" File)
Below are descriptions of the documents held in
the Small Study Collection of the Decision to Drop the Atomic
Bomb (or, Mini "B" file). The hyperlink to the right
will lead you to the actual document, and indicates how many
pages that particular item is. Please bear in mind that these
documents are presently presented GIFs and are not separate HTML
documents. Also, the copies that we had to work with varied
greatly in quality and, thus, effected the quality of the images.
The
Documents in the Small Collection
Henry L. Stimson to President Truman, April 24, 1945 (1 page).
Pages from President Truman's diary, July 16, 1945 (5 pages).
Gen. L. R. Groves, memorandum for the Secretary of
War, July 18, 1945 (13 pages).
Notes with drawings of the atomic cloud, presumably
by Lansing Lamont, July 16, 1945 (1
page).
Pages from President Truman's diary, July 17, 18, and
25, 1945 (4 pages).
Two photographs of a meeting of President Truman,
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph
Stalin at Potsdam, Germany, July 19, 1945, with notes by
President Truman written on the reverse (2 pages).
Cable, Secretary of War to President Truman, July 30,
1945, with a handwritten response by the President on the
reverse (2 pages).
President Truman to Bess Truman, July 31, 1945 (4 pages).
Translations of two leaflets dropped on Japanese
cities shortly after the first atomic bomb was dropped,
ca. August 6, 1945 (2 pages).
Draft of a White House press release, "Statement
by the President of the United States," ca. August
6, 1945 (3 pages).
War Department press release, "Statement of the
Secretary of War," ca. August 6, 1945 (7 pages).
Cable, Senator Richard B. Russell to President
Truman, August 7, 1945 (4 pages),
with attached, President Truman to Senator Richard B.
Russell, August 9, 1945 (1 page).
Samuel McCrea Cavert to President Truman, August 9,
1945 (1 page), with attached,
President Truman to Samuel McCrea Cavert, August 11, 1945
(1 page).
Matthew J. Connelly, memorandum for James Byrnes,
September 6, 1945 (1 page), with
attached, Leo Szilard to Matthew J. Connelly, August 17,
1945 (1 page), and A. Einstein to
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, March 25, 1945 (1 page).
Henry L. Stimson to President Truman, September 11,
1945 (2 pages), with attached,
Henry L. Stimson, memorandum for the President, September
11, 1945 (6 pages).
Franklin D'Olier to President Truman, June 20, 1946 (1 page), with attached, pages 27 and
28 of a report by the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey,
"The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki," June 9, 1946 (2
pages).
President Truman to Karl T. Compton, December 16,
1946 (1 page); (see also "If
the Atomic bomb Had Not Been Used," by Karl T.
Compton, The Atlantic Monthly , December 1946).
Irving Perlmeter, memorandum to Gen. Landry, December
23, 1952 (1 page); Gen. R. B.
Landry, memorandum for the President, December 30, 1952 (1 page), James L. Cate to President
Truman, December 6, 1952 (2 pages);
Gen. Thomas T. Handy; memorandum for Gen. Carl Spaatz,
July 25, 1945 (1 page);
handwritten draft by President Truman of a letter to
James L. Cate, December 31, 1952 (4
pages); Kenneth W. Hechler, memorandum for Mr. Lloyd,
January 5, 1953 (1 page); david
D. Lloyd, memorandum for the President, January 6, 1953 (1 page); and President Truman to
James L. Cate, January 12, 1953 (2
pages).
Memorandum by Eben A. Ayers, "The Atomic
Bomb," ca. 1951 (2 pages).
Memorandum by Eben A. Ayers, beginning "In
outlining the history..." ca. 1951 (5 pages).
Portion of an interview with former President Truman,
ca. 1955 (2 pages).
Tsukasa Nitoguri to former President Truman, March 1,
1958 (1 page) with attached,
Hiroshima City Council Resolution No. 11, February 13,
1958 (1 page); and press release,
letter of former President Truman to Tsukasa Nitoguri,
March 2, 1958 (2 pages).
Handwritten notes by former President Truman
beginning "The world is faced..." ca. 1958 (7 pages).
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