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The San Francisco Nexus in World War II

Freedoms Found, Liberties Lost, and the Atomic Bomb

Philip E. Meza

In The San Francisco Nexus in World War II: Freedoms Found, Liberties Lost, and the Atomic Bomb, Meza tells the story of important events in the San Francisco Bay Area that have consequences still felt to date. He traces the invention of the atomic bomb, from a speculative design for a nuclear weapon sketched on a chalkboard at Berkeley by theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer and helped made real by “Big Science” that was pioneered by his friend and colleague, experimental physicist Ernest Lawrence. During this time, Black Americans migrated to San Francisco to escape the Jim Crow South, finding new freedoms, good jobs, and a leader in a singer-turned-welder named Joseph James. Meza shows how James fought for and won an end to segregation in his union, taking a large step toward the civil rights movement. At the same time, Japanese Americans were forced from their homes by a tragically misguided presidential executive order, upheld by the US Supreme Court, illustrating the fragility of liberty in America. These events continue to shape the world today.

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Lexington Books
Pages: 244 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-66694-157-9 • Hardback • September 2023 • $110.00 • (£85.00)
978-1-66694-159-3 • Paperback • February 2025 • $39.99 • (£30.00)
Subjects: History / United States / 20th Century, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations, History / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)

Philip E. Meza is strategy consultant and researcher researcher whose books have been translated into multiple languages and used in universities around the world.

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: The Crucible by the Bay

Chapter 2: Bridging the New World

Chapter 3: Gold Comes to Berkeley

Chapter 4: Making the Desert Bloom

Chapter 5: A Hit on Treasure Island

Chapter 6: Fission from the Old World

Chapter 7: Panic in California

Chapter 8: Drumbeat to Internment

Chapter 9: Developing the Means

Chapter 10: Sketching the Atomic Bomb

Chapter 11: A National Disgrace

Chapter 12: Nearer to Free: Black Migration to San Francisco

Chapter 13: The Baritone Who Broke the Jim Crow Union

Chapter 14: Out of LeConte and Into Los Alamos

Chapter 15: The World Comes to San Francisco

Chapter 16: Jack Kennedy Present at the Creation

Chapter 17: Trinity and After

Chapter 18: Gold in Peace, Iron in War

Bibliography

About the Author

Following in the best tradition of famed California historian Kenneth Star, The San Francisco Nexus in World War II by Philip E. Meza takes the reader on a kaleidoscopic tour of the city by the Bay at a crucial moment in world history. From the pioneering work in splitting the atom on the campus of UC Berkeley to the jazz filled streets of the Fillmore district, Meza's work connects the threads of war, prejudice, science, and the personal dramas of figures ranging from J. Robert Oppenheimer to a young John F. Kennedy in a gripping historical narrative of the San Francisco Bay Area and its connection to a larger world at the dawn of the atomic age.


— Sean Malloy, University of California, Merced


Philip E. Meza’s beautifully written The San Francisco Nexus in World War II takes a complex story and transforms it into a compelling narrative. Meza also makes a number of important contributions to several areas of scholarly inquiry: the history of science, the development of the atomic bomb, the history of the San Francisco Bay Area during World War II, California history, and even the history of the University of California at Berkeley.


— Christopher D. O'Sullivan, University of San Francisco


The San Francisco Nexus in World War II

Freedoms Found, Liberties Lost, and the Atomic Bomb

Cover Image
Hardback
Paperback
Summary
Summary
  • In The San Francisco Nexus in World War II: Freedoms Found, Liberties Lost, and the Atomic Bomb, Meza tells the story of important events in the San Francisco Bay Area that have consequences still felt to date. He traces the invention of the atomic bomb, from a speculative design for a nuclear weapon sketched on a chalkboard at Berkeley by theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer and helped made real by “Big Science” that was pioneered by his friend and colleague, experimental physicist Ernest Lawrence. During this time, Black Americans migrated to San Francisco to escape the Jim Crow South, finding new freedoms, good jobs, and a leader in a singer-turned-welder named Joseph James. Meza shows how James fought for and won an end to segregation in his union, taking a large step toward the civil rights movement. At the same time, Japanese Americans were forced from their homes by a tragically misguided presidential executive order, upheld by the US Supreme Court, illustrating the fragility of liberty in America. These events continue to shape the world today.

Details
Details
  • Lexington Books
    Pages: 244 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½
    978-1-66694-157-9 • Hardback • September 2023 • $110.00 • (£85.00)
    978-1-66694-159-3 • Paperback • February 2025 • $39.99 • (£30.00)
    Subjects: History / United States / 20th Century, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations, History / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
Author
Author
  • Philip E. Meza is strategy consultant and researcher researcher whose books have been translated into multiple languages and used in universities around the world.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Acknowledgments

    Chapter 1: The Crucible by the Bay

    Chapter 2: Bridging the New World

    Chapter 3: Gold Comes to Berkeley

    Chapter 4: Making the Desert Bloom

    Chapter 5: A Hit on Treasure Island

    Chapter 6: Fission from the Old World

    Chapter 7: Panic in California

    Chapter 8: Drumbeat to Internment

    Chapter 9: Developing the Means

    Chapter 10: Sketching the Atomic Bomb

    Chapter 11: A National Disgrace

    Chapter 12: Nearer to Free: Black Migration to San Francisco

    Chapter 13: The Baritone Who Broke the Jim Crow Union

    Chapter 14: Out of LeConte and Into Los Alamos

    Chapter 15: The World Comes to San Francisco

    Chapter 16: Jack Kennedy Present at the Creation

    Chapter 17: Trinity and After

    Chapter 18: Gold in Peace, Iron in War

    Bibliography

    About the Author

Reviews
Reviews
  • Following in the best tradition of famed California historian Kenneth Star, The San Francisco Nexus in World War II by Philip E. Meza takes the reader on a kaleidoscopic tour of the city by the Bay at a crucial moment in world history. From the pioneering work in splitting the atom on the campus of UC Berkeley to the jazz filled streets of the Fillmore district, Meza's work connects the threads of war, prejudice, science, and the personal dramas of figures ranging from J. Robert Oppenheimer to a young John F. Kennedy in a gripping historical narrative of the San Francisco Bay Area and its connection to a larger world at the dawn of the atomic age.


    — Sean Malloy, University of California, Merced


    Philip E. Meza’s beautifully written The San Francisco Nexus in World War II takes a complex story and transforms it into a compelling narrative. Meza also makes a number of important contributions to several areas of scholarly inquiry: the history of science, the development of the atomic bomb, the history of the San Francisco Bay Area during World War II, California history, and even the history of the University of California at Berkeley.


    — Christopher D. O'Sullivan, University of San Francisco


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