Frances Dunne
Personal Information
Born: 1903 or 1910
Died: 1993
Country of Birth: Canada
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: White
Education
Swarthmore College-no degree
"in discussing her crew at Los Alamos she said, “I called them my boys because they waited on me hand and foot.” (ladailypost.com); after hearing the war had ended she said they set off explosions and “It was really cold, and it was raining, but we banged them off just the same, in celebration,” she said. “We were extremely happy that we had ended the war.” (ladailypost.com); "
— Frances Dunne
Professional Life
Field of Study: Airplane Mechanic; Explosives Tech
Institution/Corporation: Los Alamos National Labs
Degrees & Memberships: None found
Awards & Achievements
Awards: None found
Achievements: explosives technician who conducted early testing at the Manhattan Project because she had small fingers & could easily reach inside bombs to set triggers; she and her group tested various configurations of the conventional explosives assemblies that would be used to detonate both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki weapons & were the assembly crew for the world's first nuclear explosion, code-named Trinity, which took place at the Alamogordo Bombing Range in a desert area of south-central New Mexico on July 16, 1945;
little is known of her personal life, not even her date of birth (1903 & 1910 have been cited) or place of birth (most likely Canada)
was orphaned at approximately age 4
spent years at boarding schools
unknown when she came to the US
several sources state she attended numerous colleges but the only records reflect classes at Swarthmore College with no degree
was living in New Mexico & working as an aircraft mechanic at the outbreak of WWII & was recruited for Los alamos because of her mechanical knowledge & small, dexterous hands
it was rumored she worked for the FBI after the war but this has not been substantiated
it was also rumored she worked as a fashionmodel in New York & wasa professional singer with Guy Lombardo's band before the war but this also has not been substantiated
it is known she spent her years after the war until her death living in New Mexico
was the only female in the Manhattan Project's Explosive Assembly Group
2018 the Los alamos National Lab opened the Frances Dunne Test Firing Facility for explosives testing, diagnostics, & data analysis