Lloyd Albert Quarterman, a chemist, was one of the few Black scientists and technicians to work on the Manhattan Project, the top secret effort to design and build the atomic bomb during World War II. Quarterman was born on May 31, 1918 in Philadelphia. Lloyd Quarterman developed an interest in chemistry from a young age partly by using toy chemistry sets his parents gave him. He attended St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina where he developed a reputation as a scholar and star football player. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from St. Augustine’s in 1943, he was quickly recruited by the War Department to work on the Manhattan Project.
Quarterman began work as a junior chemist; he was, officially, an assistant to an associate research scientist and chemist. The government hired him to work with a huge network of scientists spread across the country at different laboratories, each team pursuing a separate portion of the work necessary to develop an atomic bomb. There were two primary laboratories associated with the Manhattan Project; one at the University of Chicago and the other at Columbia University. He worked at both the Columbia University laboratory in New York City and at the hidden University of Chicago facility in Chicago, Illinois.
At the University of Chicago, Quarterman worked under Dr. Enrico Fermi, the notable Italian physicist. While at Columbia University, he worked under Albert Einstein. It was the University of Chicago team of scientists that first split the atom. Quarterman was a member of the team of scientists who isolated the isotope of uranium (U 238) necessary for the fission process, which was essential to the creation of the atom bomb. Quarterman was predominantly involved in the experiments that led to the transformation of solid uranium into huge amounts of a particular kind of uranium gas.
The work at the University of Chicago was no less or more important, but the facilities were considerably more confidential. The empty locker rooms and racquet courts beneath the unused football stadium, Stagg Field, were converted in 1942 into a giant, hidden laboratory for the team of scientists working on the “plutonium program.” Quarterman and his colleagues developed and built the first nuclear reactor, or pile. This structure—essentially the same core structure found in modern nuclear power plants. The U-235 that Quarterman helped accumulate was used to make Little Boy, the atomic bomb that was exploded over Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.
After the war, Quarterman was presented with a certificate of recognition for his development of the Atom Bomb and his contribution to the conclusion of World War II. As soon as the Manhattan Project was officially closed down in 1946, he then returned to the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, where he remained for the rest of his career. At Argonne, Quarterman was an assistant to the associate research scientist and chemist from 1943 to 1949. He assisted with the first nuclear reactor for atomic-powered submarines. The laboratories hidden beneath the University of Chicago’s football stadium became a multi-million dollar facility, above ground in a Chicago suburb.
Most of the work conducted at the lab was geared toward the exploration of the peaceful possibilities of nuclear energy production. Quarterman went on to receive a Master of Science from Northwestern University in 1952. His work kept him in the midst of the most important scientific projects of the day, some with great public appeal, some much more obscure but no less important. He continued to work with Fermi’s team of scientists, who contributed to the first nuclear power plant. During this time he also studied quantum mechanics. This helped to strengthen his ability as a scientist. He continued his studies of fluoride solutions, and developed a “diamond window” through which it was possible to study its complex molecular structure.
Beyond his work on the bomb, Quarterman worked with fluoride solutions to create new chemical compounds and new molecules. He was skilled at purifying hydrogen fluoride, a highly corrosive gas. Quarterman also worked as a spectroscopist, studying the interactions between matter and radiation. In 1967 he developed a corrosive resistant “window” made of diamonds in order to better study hydrogen fluoride. His innovation was called the “diamond window.” He also created a xenon compound which surprised the world of chemistry because it was believed that xenon was an “inert” gas and supposedly could not be combined with other atoms.
By 1971, his credentials were such that his alma mater awarded him an honorary doctorate of science in chemistry. Quarterman received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom. Lloyd Quarterman was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences for his outstanding contributions to the field of chemistry. He was a member of the Chicago branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He spoke often to young African Americans urging them to pursue careers in science.