Profile: Mildred M. Summers, A Place in Atomic History

Met Lab Technician • Argonne Researcher • Scientific Coauthor

The historical photograph, on the left, gives Mildred Summers a documented place among the people who worked in Chicago's wartime scientific community. Her name in the photograph's caption matters: it moves her from an overlooked reference in history into the visible record. The "They Were There" laboratory image introduces the larger world of research, experimentation, and technical skill in which many Black scientists developed their expertise. Together, the images represent a story that is much larger than any single African American scientist.  Indeed, we were there.

Overview:

Mildred M. Summers (1913–1971) was an African American laboratory technician and researcher whose scientific career began at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory, or Met Lab, during World War II. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, she moved to Chicago in 1931 and joined the Met Lab in the fall of 1942 after learning about an available position. Starting as a laboratory helper, Summers demonstrated enough ability to advance to technician in the Extraction-Decontamination group. In April 1945, she transferred to the Biology Division, and her work eventually took her to Hanford before she returned to the Chicago area. After the war, she continued her scientific career at Argonne National Laboratory. By 1955, Mildred M. Summers was a coauthor of published research in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. She died at home on August 20, 1971. 

Primary Source Spotlight:

Mildred M. Summers: Research on Radiation Protection

Published in February 1955, this issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute features research by Mildred M. Summers and colleagues at Argonne National Laboratory. Their study, “Protection of Mice Against X Irradiation by Plasma Proteins,” examined whether substances found in blood plasma could reduce the harmful effects of radiation. The article provides primary-source evidence of Summers's participation in experimental radiation research during the early Atomic Age.

Quick Facts:

• Full name used in scientific publication: Mildred M. Summers

• Born: 1913, Vicksburg, Mississippi

• Moved to Chicago: 1931

• Joined the Met Lab: Fall 1942

• Began as: Laboratory helper

• Advanced to: Technician

• Met Lab assignment: Extraction-Decontamination group

• Transferred: Biology Division, April 1945

• Scientific work included: Travel to Hanford

• Postwar employer: Argonne National Laboratory

• Published research: Coauthor of a 1955 article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute

• Married to: William C. Summers

• Children named in her obituary: Dolores Blackman and Arnold

• Died: August 20, 1971

• Place of death: At home in Chicago, according to her obituary

The National Park Service identifies Summers as an African American member of the Met Lab's scientific and technical workforce and traces her progression from laboratory helper to technician and later work at Argonne.

Why This Story Matters:

Mildred Summers matters because her story expands the historical record of who participated in American science during the Manhattan Project era. The National Park Service reports that she is believed to have been one of only two African American women employed by the Manhattan Project as scientific and technical staff. Yet her importance does not rest only on that distinction. The documented record shows professional growth: she began as a laboratory helper, advanced to technician, moved between research divisions, traveled for scientific work, continued at Argonne, and later appeared as a coauthor of published research.

Her career also challenges the assumption that Black women were absent from major twentieth-century scientific institutions. Summers's name appears in wartime records, a 1945 staff photograph, a scientific publication, and a contemporary obituary. Each surviving piece of evidence helps restore a fuller picture of the people whose knowledge and labor shaped the Atomic Age. 

Primary Source Spotlight:

Mildred M. Summers: Almost Lost to History

For nearly two decades, Mildred M. Summers worked as a research scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, contributing to scientific research during the Atomic Age. Yet the evidence of her career is remarkably easy to overlook. Her name appears in scientific publications, a 1945 photograph of Argonne researchers, and, years later, in this brief obituary—a few lines that identify her as a research scientist but reveal almost nothing about the work she accomplished.

That is how easily a scientist can be lost to history. Without preserving and connecting these scattered records, Summers could remain little more than a name in an obituary. Before1964 seeks to recover stories like hers and place the achievements of Black scientists back into the larger history of American innovation—where they belong.

Legacy:

Mildred Summers's legacy is found partly in what the historical record allows us to recover. For many scientists and technicians, careers are preserved through biographies, institutional histories, and extensive collections of personal papers. Summers's story survives in smaller pieces: a wartime account of her advancement, a staff photograph that names her, a scientific article bearing her name, and an obituary describing her as a research scientist at Argonne.

Together, those records reveal a career that continued beyond wartime service. Summers represents a generation of African American scientific workers whose contributions were often less visible in popular accounts of the Atomic Age. Her story encourages a broader understanding of scientific history—one that looks beyond famous names to recognize the technicians, researchers, and other skilled professionals whose work also helped shape major scientific institutions and discoveries.

Discussion Questions:

1. Mildred Summers began as a laboratory helper and advanced to become a technician. What does her story suggest about the importance of recognizing ability and providing opportunities for people to grow?

2. Only fragments of Summers's life and career have survived in the historical record. Why might some people's contributions be easier to remember and document than others, even when both took part in important events?

3. Summers worked during a period when African Americans, and especially African American women, faced limited opportunities in many professional fields. How might her presence in major scientific institutions challenge our assumptions about who has participated in American science?

Reflection Prompt:

1. Mildred Summers's story shows that historical recognition often depends on whether records survive and whether later generations choose to search for them. If important contributions can remain largely unknown simply because a person's story was not widely preserved, who has the power to decide what history remembers—and what responsibility do institutions, researchers, and communities have to recover the people history has overlooked? 

Sources & Further Reading:

1. “African Americans at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge: A Historic Context Study.” National Park Service. 2019. Website. 

2. “Journal of Glenn T. Seaborg: Chief, Section C-1, Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Engineer District, 1942–46 (Volume 4).” Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, eScholarship. Website. 

3. Stroud, Agnes N.; Brues, Austin M.; and Summers, Mildred M. “Protection of Mice Against X Irradiation by Plasma Proteins.” Journal of the National Cancer Institute. February 1955. 

4. “Mildred M. Summers.” National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Atomic Heritage Foundation. Website. 

5. “Mildred M. Summers, Obituary.” Chicago Tribune. August 23, 1971. 

Page Navigation:

<Previous   The Atomic Bomb   Next Profile>