Charles Vanden Bulck

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Charles Vanden Bulck (born Carolus Joannes Cornelius Van den Bulck, Antwerp, Belgium, May 9, 1904, died Stamford, Connecticut, September 29, 1962) was an American of Flemish origin. By means of a correspondence course accounting and general business management he worked himself up the administrative hierarchy of Manhattan and the army. During World War II he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the United States Army Corps of Engineers leading the Oak Ridge, Tennessee administrative department of the Manhattan-project, a secret research project in the development race to the first atomic bomb. He received several honors for his contribution to the success of the Oak Ridge activities and the associated furtherance of the war effort.

Short biography

Charles Vanden Bulck was an in Antwerp born Belgian who migrated in 1913 at the age of 9 with his parents and sister to the United States and grew up in the 578 Hudsonstreet, Hoboken, New Jersey.

May 1922 at the age of 18 he joined the military service with the New York Guard Navy. He was a sportive young man interested in diving and repairing ships.

He had a high school eduation and followed a correspondence course accounting and general business management and worked shortly for a bank and a sugar refinery..^[1]

Around 1925 he started as a civilian on the financial department of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, where he worked on the payroll administration, job finances and the budgets. The following years he moved from post to post and lived after the birth of his son Charles Franz in 1934 in Rome, Bingham and Syracuse to return later on back to New York. When the family is enjoying a game of bowling on December 7, 1941 in Rome, New York, they receive the news of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1942 in Syracuse Brigadier General James C. Marshall asked him to participate in a secret project at a secret location. A request he blindly accepted.^[2] Charles is there after known for his position as chief administrative and procurement officer for the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge, Tennessee

First as a major and soon after as lieutenant colonel he managed over 60% of the US$2 billion^[3] spend on the Manhattan Project making this is a success.^[4]

He is mentioned as auditor of the United States Army Corps of Engineers with workplace Lincoln Park, New Jersey.^[5]

Next to his agreable personality he was also know for his extreem integrity in not accepting any form of gifts to the extent of even sending back cakes and pies.^[6]

After the war until his retirement on August 4, 1960, he worked as a contracting officer for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), where he transformed the temporarily war project in Oak Ridge into a permanent group of useful facilities for the development of peaceful nuclear applications. In this roll he also controlled other organizations such as the Oak Ridge Hospital, which in January 1960 would transform into the Hospital of the Methodist Church.

He received the Legion of Merit, his name was contributed to a bridge near Oak Ridge, Tennessee and he is mentioned in several books on the Manhattan Project like The Girls of Atomic City - The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan.

Family

Born May 9, 1904, in Antwerp, Belgium, as son of Frans - Francois - Van den Bulck (1880 – 1948) and his wife Maria Josephina Pauwels (1885 - 1969). Once in the US their first names morph into more English sounding variants like Francis, Marie Jo, Charles en Marth. His parents found their last resting place on the Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum of North Arlington, Bergen, County, New Jersey.^[7]

According to his birth certificate (see gallery) his official given name was Carolus Joannes Cornelius Van den Bulck.

In 1933 he married Gertrude (Gerty) Korman (May 13, 1910), who was of German descend. Together they have a son Charles Franz Vandenbulck who was born September 1, 1934, in Hoboken, New Jersey, two grandchildren and several great grandchilderen.

His sister Martha Marie (may 27, 1911-august 7, 2001) and her husband Joseph Paul Vidosic had 2 children Dorothy Marie Vidosic and Richard Paul Vidosic and several grandchildren.

Belgian civil registry - family certificates
(1) Marriage certificate of his parents
(2) Birth certificate as Carolus Joannes Cornelius Van den Bulck

Migration

Antwerp

Between 1873 and 1934 the Red Star Line organized regular passages from Antwerp to New York. Their oceaan steamers with impressive high chimneys docked alongside the Rijnkaai at the current level of the Red Star Line Museum on the Montevideostraat. On departure, the ships were pulled downstream up the river Scheldt by tugboats. This way about 2 million European emigrants would reach the United States of America including the young Van den Bulck family.^[8] Both in Antwerpen and New York emigrants were medically examined, disinfected and sometimes quarantined. When they did not pass the New York controls they were send back on the expense of the shipping company.^[9]

Ellis Island, New York

On the manifest of the Template:SS with departure from Antwerp May 10, 1913 and arrival in New York on May 21 we see his father Frans Van den Bulck being mentioned with 'age 32 years' and 'occupation baker' (see picture 6). Unless he had made prior arrangements he probably went in search of employment finding work as a longshoreman^[10] and an affordable place to live. When mother and children arrive on October 11th 1913 on the same Template:SS on Ellis Island, the manifest shows that the father paid for the fair while already having an American address at 578 Hudsonstreet, Hoboken, New Jersey. The Van den Bulck family is listed on the manifest lines 23-25 as "Marie 28 years", "Charle 9 years" and "Martha 2 years". Further more the column "near family or friends" mentions "14 Nassau St, Antwerp. Grandmother" (see picture 7.1 and 7.2).

From Antwerp to Ellis Island, New-York
(1) Old view on Rijnkaai, Antwerp
(2) Red Star Line buildings, Antwerp
(3) SS Finland floor plan
(4) The SS Finland docked in Antwerp
(5)The SS Finland leaving New York
(6) SS Finland passenger arrival list - father, May 21, 1913
(7.1) SS Finland passenger arrival list - family, Octobre 11, 1913 page 1
(7.2) SS Finland passenger arrival list, family, Octobre 11, 1913 page 2

Hoboken, New Jersey

As terminal of the German Norddeutscher Lloyd and the Hamburg America lines German migrants were the largest population group in Hoboken. The city with her typical German churches, beer halls and social clubs was also called "Little Bremen".^[11] In the first World War the Hoboken harbor, where his father worked as a longshoreman, performed a very important roll in the transportation of soldiers and materials to Europe. During and after the war the Duitse presence decreased because of anti-German feelings and actions. This continued after the war with the arrival of many Irish, Italians, Joegoslaves, latino's and Azian people.^[12]

Ziegler-McPherson, Christina A. (June 14, 2011). Immigrants in Hoboken:: One-Way Ticket, 1845-1985 (American Heritage). The History Press. ISBN 978-1609491635. https://books.google.be/books/about/Immigrants_in_Hoboken.html?id=fb92CQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y.

Biography

Schools

The school system in Hoboken was of good quality.^[13] Charles attended the last part of primary school, secondary school and high school. Real details are unknown. The start date of his military service could have indicated something about not completing his last year, but at that time the number of school days was significantly lower.^[14] He might not have had the means to or decided not to start higher education.

World War I

On April 6, 1917, the US joined the Allies in World War I and started the mobilization that also included his father in 1918. Although his father signed with Frans Van den Bulck he got registered as Francis Vanden Bulck, with address 122 River Street, Hoboken, Hudson (NJ) (see document).

A little later, the headquarters of the Commission for Relief in Belgium (C.R.B.) was established in New York. It collected money, food and relief supplies for the Belgian victims of the German war machine. Through national committees, the organization called on all Americans to set aside food and collect clothing for the Belgians.^[15]

Following sabotage actions part of Hoboken was put under martial law and many Germans fled to other states or were moved on Ellis Island.^[16]

Draft

On May 15, 1922, at the age of 18, Charles joined the Navy department of the New York Guard (3rd Div 2nd Bn). His enlistment paper showed as address 117 Wall Street, New York City.^[17]

First jobs

Charles took a correspondence course accounting and general management and worked shortly for a bank and a sugar refinery.^[1]

World War II

During World War II Charles worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). He started as a civilian on the Broadway office in New York and in 1941 he joined the Rome Air Force project team of Kenneth Nichols. A personal collaboration that would last for 37 years.

After accepting Brigadier General James C. Marshall's secret mission request in 1942 he moved to Oak Ridge where he was promoted to major and soon after to lieutenant colonel. During the first phase of the Oak Ridge development in 1942 the local ground owners were told they had to make room for the "Kingston Demolition Range". Later on the location name would change to Clinton Engineer Works (CEW). Before Oak Ridge got her final name it was also known as "Site X" and "the Secret City". The name Oak Ridge was chosen after a competition for proposals by Brigadier General James C. Marshall in conjunction with Charles.^[18]

Starting from May 1943 'Van' - as Charles was often called in those days - worked in the newly build 'Castle on the Hill' headquarters of the Manhattan Engineer District.^[19] It was a low building with a long central wing connecting to seven cross coupled administrative wings. The headquarters also had a heliport landing platform at the back. He worked closely together with General Leslie Groves known as project leader of the Pentagon building and Colonel Nichols.^[20] the Manhattan District Engineer.

In day-to-day activities Charles was assisted by his secretary the tall blond well-dressed Sherry (Frances Rose McSherry 1921-2018)^[21]^[22] or in her absence by one of her colleagues such as Celia Szapka Klemski.^[23] ^[24] Sherry made such an impression on the physicist Richard Feynman that he would later mention her in his biography and refer to her as 'the movie queen'. ^[25] She also did not remain unnoticed during the Oak Ridge staff meetings as General Leslie Groves would appoint her later as his private secretary.^[21]

Charles was director of administration and special disbursing officer of the Manhattan Project. In more general terms he was the procurement manager in charge of the aquisition and administrative processing of all the materials and services. The project mainly contracted large American companies with prior army work experience. An important exception was the Belgian-Kongolese company Union Minière du Haut-Katanga or UMHK that took care of the supply of uranium via their director Edgar Sengier. An important part of the highly needed UMHK uranium stock was luckily already stored in New York.

End of August 1943 Charles brought his family to Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Due to war related shortages the car trip would take them 3 days as they often needed to wait in exhausted gas stations for fuel trucks with new deliveries. Upon arrival September 1st - his son's birthday - they first stayed in the Guest House taking their meals in the Central Cafeteria. Once their planned home was finished and furbished they moved to 303 West Fernhill. Later on they would move one more time to 111 Olney Lane. This was the former home of Colonel Nichols and was of a much higher standard than the caravans and barracks where most workers stayed. It was also an upgrade from coal to electric heating.^[26]

All homes were build according to standard types and both their homes were of type D - family house.^[27] On the floorplan one sees the standard kind of rooms but also a coal room.. As the family only has 1 child, they had a spare sleeping room which was almost always assigned to arriving corp members. As soon as their guests family arrived they would leave to their own newly constructed home.^[28] Construction on the site continued 24/24 so it happened that where in the morning you passed an empty ground that in the evening you crossed a brand new residential quarter.

During the war years over 60% of the 2 billion USD Manhattan project costs and contracts would be processed by his administration.^[3] In 2022 the estimated amount of 1,118.325.000 USD would represent a relative value of almost 19 billion USD^[29]. Most of it was spend on the K-25 Gaseous diffusion plant and the Y-12 electromagnetic plant.

His ASN - Army Service Number was O-490878

Code	Meaning
O	Commissioned Officer
4	drafted in either Alabama, Florida, Georgia Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee
90878	"Special Use" service numbers range 90.001 – 99.999

The detailed Manhattan project timeline

Organization chart as major (1943)
Organization chart as lieutenant colonel
Oak Ridge family house type D

Atomic Energy Commission

Retirement letter to Kenneth Nichols

The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was created in 1946 after signing the McMahon/Atomic Energy act in order to transfer the military nuclear knowledge and infrastructure to the civil world.

After World War II Charles continued the administration at the Oak Ridge site until November 1946.

Returning to civilian life he then worked 2 months for the United States Army Corps of Engineers to transfer in Januari 1947 with his relevant knowledge and experience to the non-military Atomic Energy Commission.^[1]

In 1953 he was promoted to "assistent manager of the operations offices" to lead 6 divisions including budgetting and rapporting.^[1]

He was listed among others in the January 3, 1956, edition of the Congressional Directory^[30] - FOR THE USE OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS, onder het "Office of the General Manger" als "Special Assistant to the General Manager", extensie 452. His home at the time near Washington D.C. is mentioned as 6017 Kirby Road, Bethesda,_Maryland.

In Augustus 1960 he retired from the Atomic Energy Commission but not without informing Kenneth Nichols by letter and looking back on their common history (see attached letter).

American Machine and Foundry

After his retirement from the Atomic Energy Commission in August 1960, he took one more job with the American Machine and Foundry (AMF) that originally started as a recreational equipment company.^[31] At that time however one of their products was the launching system for the U.S. Army's Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM). ^[32] This required a thorough investigation into his past, revealing details about his birth and younger life in Antwerp, Belgium.

Hobbies

Charles Vanden Bulck was an avid athlete who enjoyed American handball, slow pitch softball and bowling.^[33]

Honours

Medal of Merit

October 2, 1945, for services rendered in the period 1942-1945 he was awarded the Legion of Merit.^[34]
Washington D.C. 1956, he receives the highest Atomic Energy Commission price "the gold Distinguished Service Award".^[35]
Loudon County 1962, a bridge on the Tennessee SR95, White Wing Road nearby Clinch View Church northeast of Bradbury Valley was named the Charles Vanden Bulck bridge in his honour.
1962, after his passing a certificate by president John F. Kennedy send in honor of the memory to Charles Vanden Bulck.^[36]
Honored by the National Civil Service League.^[37]

The Oak Ridgers newpaper article

The Oak Ridgers newpaper article

Appraisals

Several appraisals by General Kenneth David Nichols in his book "The Road to Trinity" (1987).
Communication mentioned in the "Manhattan History - Book 1 - Volume 4 - Chapter 8":

"TO: CHARLES VANDEN-BULCK, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, Box 231, Mountain View, NJ
FOR:As Chief Administrative Officer of the Manhattan Engineer District of October 1942 to August 1945. Although handicapped by rigid security control which at times required wide variation from normal War Department administrative procedures, he ingeniously devised many new means for effecting special administrative requirements. By his initiative, great force, and unusual comprehension of detail, he rendered service of outstanding value to the Government and assisted materially in the furtherance of the war effort.^[4]

Charity and culture

According to several sources, he would have been a very agreeable person^[23] who also worked for charities including the local Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. His son Charlie Franz has donated many of his father's documents to this museum, so that they can be preserved for the future.^[38]

In the article 'Recreation and Welfare Groups Function Lists'^[39] on page 3 and 4 of The Oak Ridge Journal of August 3, 1944, his name appears along with those of other members of the Recreation and Welfare Association. This concerns the organization of open-air dance moments at the tennis club and the construction of additional sports infrastructure. In the beginning, the tennis courts were one of the first and rare paved areas in Oak Ridge. The local youth also had their own rhythms and dance moves during the war years.

Passing

After fighting cancer he passed away September 29, 1962, at Stamford Hospital at the age of 58.^[40]^[35]

The year after on May 25, 1963 a new bridge on the Tennessee State Route 95, crossing the Clinch river, was dedicated in honor of his person and his achievements and given his name.