Wasteland Wrap-up #3

I’m on the road this week, so this Wasteland Wrap-up will be brief!

Where I’ve been

I had a very brief trip to Washington, DC, to participate in a conference and to spend a day in the Library of Congress’ Manuscript Reading Room, looking at some materials for my next book, on Truman and the bomb.

Apparently I arrived in Union Station just after the anti-Netanyahu protest had finished. Kind of surreal to see its remnants. The graffiti was mostly removed by the next day.

I’ve been a collector and connoisseur of classified cover sheets for some time now. This one of the Far East Air Force, from April 1951, was a new one for me, and is quite lovely.

One last little thing — this is a telex conversation between Curtis LeMay and Lauris Norstad from April 1945 that I came across in the LeMay papers. Nothing super interesting by itself (though I find the “HELLO LARRY” “HO W ARE YOU” “FINE” pretty relatable), but I loved that they clearly did not have a “TOP SECRET” stamp handy at this time (the category was created in 1944), only a “SECRET” stamp, and had to write the “TOP” by hand on each page. I love those kind of details.

I found a few other interesting documents on the trip, but I haven’t processed them all yet and am on the run today (about to go on another trip), so that’s all for now!