Bowles, Edward L. Papers

Dates: 1942-1975

Consultant to the Secretary of War, 1942-1947; Scientific Consultant, U.S. Air Force, 1947-1951; Consultant to the Secretary of the Army, 1951-1952

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.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

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.


[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

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

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

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.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1

  SUBJECT FILE, 1942-1975
Correspondence, memoranda, and reports. Arranged alphabetically.
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

SUBJECT FILE, 1942-1975

Box 1

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