P. Gerald Kruger Papers, 1902-2000 | University of Illinois Archives

Description: Papers of Peter Gerald Kruger (1902-1978), professor of Physics (1931-1971), contain scientific publications and photographs; personal correspondence, photographs, and biographical documents (1914-1983); lecture notes (1935-1948); research materials, experimental results, and calculations; professional correspondence (1935-1976); and Midwestern Universities Research Association (MURA) files documenting board meetings (1953-1962); bylaws, articles of incorporation, and the MURA charter (1953-1956, 1960, 1962); and budgets (1954-1956); as well as conference notes (1955-1956); and reports relating to high-energy physics; accelerator sites; funding proposals; and relations with participating institutions and with the Atomic Energy Commission, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Enrico Fermi Institution, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1950-1959). Subject files concern Kruger's involvement with the development of the cyclotron (1935-1945); Illinois high-energy particle accelerator (1951, 1956-1959); and elliptical dipole superconducting magnets (1966-1987); his work involving Boron mouse experiments (1954-1957); and radiation cataracts (1948-1949, 1960-1963); and contain notes, calculations, drafts, and published copies of scientific articles (1937- 1968) by Kruger and collaborators, including G. K. Green, J. A. Phillips, J. S. Laughlin, and J. S. Lawson, Jr.  Personal correspondence and photographs document Kruger's travels and education; marriage to Erika (Eri) Wackenroder; and relationships with family and friends in the United States and Germany, particularly with his brother Orrin Kruger.  Of particular historical interest are letters from correspondents in Germany in the early 1930s, describing conditions there during the years leading up to World War II, some of which have been translated from the original German and transcribed.  In addition to his wife and brother, Kruger's correspondents include his nephew Neil Kruger, and professional colleagues Albert H. Soloway, Norman Frigerio, Willi Jentschke, Lee M. Farr (MD), and scientists at ANL and BNL.  The series also includes a published family memoir and chronology by Kruger's niece, Nancy Kruger Olson (2000).