Hyde Park in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Enrico and Laura Fermi
As a faculty member at the University of Rome, Fermi won the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics for producing artificial radioactive substances. Fearing for his Jewish wife, Laura, because of Fascist Italy’s anti-Semitic legislation, he brought his family to the United States directly from the awards ceremony in Stockholm.
Fermi’s suggestion that the United States could develop atomic weapons led to his work at the University of Chicago from 1942-1954. There he constructed the nuclear reactor as part of an enormous secret wartime effort called the Manhattan Project. He and his team then were sent to New Mexico to develop the atomic bomb.
After the war, Fermi returned to the University of Chicago and taught there until his death. Fermilab, the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratory in the western suburbs, is named in his honor.
Laura Fermi became a writer and political activist. Her books reflected the spectrum of her experience. Illustrious Immigrants: the Intellectual Migration from Europe 1939-41 and Atoms in the Family: My Life with Enrico Fermi are among her best-known works. The Fermis lived here at 5537 South Woodlawn Avenue.
Erected 1998 by Chicago Tribune Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago Cultural Center Foundation.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Science & Medicine • Women. In addition, it is included in the Chicago Tribute series list. A significant historical date for this entry is December 2, 1942.
Location. 41° 47.641′ N, 87° 35.783′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Hyde Park. Marker is on South Woodlawn Avenue south of East 55th Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5537 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago IL 60637, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Site of the First Self-sustaining Controlled Nuclear Chain Reaction (approx. ¼ mile away); "Original Professors’ Row" (approx. 0.4 miles away); Greenwood Row Houses (approx. 0.4 miles away); Obama Kissing Rock (approx. half a mile away); Charles E. Merriam Center for Public Administration (approx. 0.6 miles away); Masaryk Memorial Monument (approx. 0.6 miles away); Museum of Science and Industry (approx. ¾ mile away); Harold Washington (approx. 0.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.
Also see . . . Enrico Fermi (Wikipedia).
"Enrico Fermi (29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and the "architect of the atomic bomb". He was one of very few physicists to excel in both theoretical physics and experimental physics. Fermi was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and for the discovery of transuranium elements. With his colleagues, Fermi filed several patents related to the use of nuclear power, all of which were taken over by the US government. He made significant contributions to the development of statistical mechanics, quantum theory, and nuclear and particle physics."(Submitted on December 11, 2021.)
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 10, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 688 times since then and 99 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 10, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. 3, 4. submitted on December 11, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.