Profile: Ella Burton Tyree, Laboratory Technician • Radiation Researcher • Atomic Age Contributor 

Laboratory Technician • Radiation Researcher • Atomic Age Contributor 

The first image grounds Ella Tyree's story in history. It's a photograph of Ms. Tyree from the September 1949 issue of Ebony Magazine.  She was at work in a scientific laboratory during the early Atomic Age. The second image is AI generated.  It places Ms. Tyree's work within the larger context—of the many Black researchers who helped shape the nuclear era. Together, the images represent both the individual and the larger story: Black scientists and technicians were present in important American research long before their contributions were widely recognized. Tyree's documented work and scientific authorship make her an important part of that history. They Were There.

Overview:

Ella Tyree (birth and death dates not currently confirmed in the sources used for this profile) was a laboratory technician whose work placed her among the Black Americans contributing to scientific research during the Atomic Age. She worked in the Health Division of the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory, or Met Lab, during the Manhattan Project. Her work involved radiation research, including laboratory animals used to study the effects of radiation. After the war, Tyree's name appeared as an author on a 1947 report published for Argonne National Laboratory and sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. She was also credited as a contributor to the chapter “Materials and Methods” in the 1949 volume Histopathology of Irradiation from External and Internal Sources. Her documented contributions provide important evidence that Black women were participating in serious scientific research during one of the most consequential periods in twentieth-century science. 

Quick Facts:

• Birth: Not confirmed in sources used for the creation of this profile

• Death: Not confirmed in sources used for the creation of this profile

• Field: Laboratory science and radiation research.

• Manhattan Project connection: Worked in the Health Division of the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory during the Manhattan Project.

• Role: Laboratory technician.

• Research work: Managed an animal facility for laboratory animals used in experiments studying the effects of radiation.

• 1947 scientific report: Named as one of four authors of The Maintenance of Animals Containing Radioactive Materials.

• Publisher: Argonne National Laboratory.

• Sponsor: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

• Second documented contribution: Credited with Raymond G. Murray, Marjorie Ismond, and George Svihla for the chapter “Materials and Methods” in Histopathology of Irradiation from External and Internal Sources.

• Contemporary recognition: Featured in the September 1949 issue of Ebony in material associated with the magazine's coverage of “Atom Scientists.”

• Historical significance: Identified by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of the Black Americans who made contributions connected to the Manhattan Project.

Why This Story Matters:

Ella Tyree matters because the historical record shows more than simply that she held a laboratory job. Her name appears on documented scientific work connected to radiation research and radioactive materials. In 1947, she was one of four named authors of The Maintenance of Animals Containing Radioactive Materials, a report published by Argonne National Laboratory for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The following publication record also credits her as one of four contributors to “Materials and Methods” in a major 1949 volume on the effects of irradiation.

These records are especially significant because Black women were rarely visible in accounts of American science during this period. Tyree worked in the scientific environment of the Manhattan Project and continued to receive formal credit for research after the war. Her story helps expand our understanding of who was present in laboratories during the Atomic Age—and whose contributions have too often remained outside the better-known history of the era.

Legacy:

Ella Tyree's legacy rests in both what is known about her work and what the surviving record represents. She was part of the Health Division at Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory during the Manhattan Project, where her work involved radiation research and laboratory animals used to study its effects. The U.S. Department of Energy later identified her among Black Americans who contributed to the Manhattan Project, noting that her radiation research would eventually contribute to a greater understanding of cancer treatments.

What makes her story especially important is that her contribution can be documented in the scientific record. In 1947, Ella Tyree was listed as a coauthor of The Maintenance of Animals Containing Radioactive Materials, an Argonne National Laboratory report sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The report dealt with practical and scientific problems created by radioactive research: how to care for contaminated animals, protect laboratory personnel, monitor radiation, prevent contamination, and develop safer laboratory equipment and procedures.

Her name appeared again in the 1949 publication Histopathology of Irradiation from External and Internal Sources, where she was credited as a contributor to the chapter “Materials and Methods.” That credit is significant because it places her name within a major scientific publication devoted to understanding the effects of radiation on living tissue.

Tyree's story also challenges the way the history of the Atomic Age is often told. The best-known names are usually famous physicists and senior scientific leaders, but enormous scientific projects depended on researchers, technicians, laboratory specialists, and other skilled workers whose names are less familiar today. For Black women, recognition was even more limited.

Yet Ella Tyree was there. She worked in the scientific environment surrounding the Manhattan Project. She participated in radiation research. She helped address the complex problems of working with radioactive materials. And the historical record preserved her name as an author and contributor to scientific work.

Her legacy is a reminder that Black women were not simply watching the Atomic Age unfold from outside the laboratory. They were already there—conducting research, managing scientific procedures, contributing to published work, and helping build knowledge during one of the most important scientific periods of the twentieth century.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why is it important that Ella Tyree's name appears on scientific reports and publications rather than only in later descriptions of her work?

2. What does Tyree's work with radiation research and laboratory animals suggest about the many different kinds of scientific work required during the Atomic Age?

3. Why might the contributions of laboratory technicians and other scientific workers be less well known than those of famous scientists?

Reflection Prompt:

1. Ella Tyree worked during a time when Black women were rarely given the same visibility or recognition as many of their white colleagues. Yet historical records show that her name appeared on scientific work connected to radiation research. What does her story suggest about the difference between making an important contribution and being remembered for it? How can historians use documents, publications, photographs, and other evidence to recover the stories of people whose achievements were overlooked? 

Sources & Further Reading:

1. “Atom Scientists: Ten Negro Scientists at Argonne Lab Help in Race to Harness Atomic Materials.” Ebony. September 1949. 

2. "Overcoming Racism and Discrimination, Black Americans Made Significant Contributions to the Manhattan Project.” National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy. Website.  Feb. 23, 2022

3. “Ella B. Tyree.” National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Atomic Heritage Foundation. Website. 

4. Histopathology of Irradiation from External and Internal Sources. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1948. Book. 

5. Britton, Paul; Lear, Patricia; Prosser, C. Ladd; and Tyree, Ella. The Maintenance of Animals Containing Radioactive Materials. Report. March 24, 1947. University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library. 

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