Helene Suydam

COMMUNITY News:

In August 2020, Helene Suydam (click for AHF’s 2005 interview) died peacefully in her sleep at age 100.

John Ruminer, Board of Directors of the Los Alamos Historical Society, said, “Helene was an iconic member of our community. Her sixty-plus years on Bathtub Row touched the lives of many of our best-known historical families. She had a great love of history and was one of our strongest supporters.”

Born in 1919, Helene married Bergen “Jerry” Suydam (1916-2011) in 1946. The next year the couple came to Los Alamos when Jerry, a theoretical physicist, was recruited by Norris Bradbury, the second director of the laboratory.

In 1956, Helene and Jerry were able to move into the house on Bathtub Row where the first director of the laboratory J. Robert Oppenheimer and his family lived during the Manhattan Project.

In the early 2000s, the Los Alamos Historical Society was working to preserve the integrity of the homes on “Bathtub Row,” exploring the use of easements and historic tax credits. Retired from the laboratory, Larry Campbell led the preservation efforts for the Society.

President Nancy Bartlit told me that the Board did not have the courage to ask the Suydams if they would consider sellling or donating their home. Together, Nancy and I decided to invite Helene to lunch on my next trip to Los Alamos.

The lunch began with Helene asking if we had read “Racing for the Bomb,” the 720-page biography of General Groves by Robert S. Norris published a few months earlier in March 2002. If this was a test, I thought I passed with a “Yes!” However, Helene responded, “But have you read the footnotes?”

Helene was intrigued by the idea that the Oppenheimer house could be the “jewel in the crown” for visitors to Los Alamos. Since I had never been inside the house, she invited us to join her for a tour and some sherry after lunch.

Once inside, Helene explained that “We did not change a thing!” After a second round of sherry, Helene mused, “Maybe Jerry and I should donate the house!”

The next step was to convince Jerry of this. Larry Campbell had worked with Jerry at the lab and agreed to approach him. Peter Wirth, now a New Mexico State Senator, provided valuable legal advice. In 2003, Helene and Jerry entered into a living trust agreement that transferred ownership to the Society but allowed the Suydams to live there as long as they liked.

We are all greatly indebted to Helene and Jerry’s love of history and preservation of the Oppenheimer home for over six decades. The house will certainly be the “jewel in the crown” of Los Alamos for visitors in the years to come.

Source: Atomic History Foundation