Dew of Death: The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Archivists, librarians, and historians deserve their own resort in heaven. It never ceased to amaze me that I could call or e-mail a librarian in the next state or across the world with a question and 98 percent of the time receive an answer—often with the following question: “Where can I fax you a copy of the relevant documents?” I thus begin by thanking the librarians and archivists without whose help this book would not have been possible: Ellen Alers, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Ellie Arguimbau, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana; William Baldwin, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C.; Daniel Barbiero, National Academies Archives, Washington, D.C.; Judy Brimmer, Churchill College, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Gradon Carter, Porton Down, Salisbury , Wiltshire, United Kingdom; Holly Comben, Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth, United Kingdom; Jacqueline Dougherty, Congregation of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana; Marisa Duarte and Heather Morgan, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.; Richard Durack, Stratford Library, London, United Kingdom; John Frisk, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana; John Gonzales, California State Library, Sacramento , California; Amira Hamdy, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Denver,Colorado ; Nancy Hanson and Peter Lysy, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, Indiana; Alan Hawk, National Museum of Health and Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland; Judy Hermann, Chemical and Biological Information Analysis Center, Aberdeen, Maryland; Christopher Hunter, Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, New York; Jodi Iverson, Bernard Schermetzler and Micaela Sullivan-Fowler, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; Raymond Jorgeson, Indiana University, South Bend, Indiana; Mitzi Kanbara, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California; Deborah Kenworthy, Carnegie Public Library, Washington, Indiana; Lesley Martin, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Illinois; Robert Michaelson and Patrick Quinn, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Jan Miller, Willoughby Public Library, Willoughby, Ohio; Martin Mumaw, Davies County, Washington, Indiana; Ann Salsich, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio; Jeffrey Smart, Research Development and Engineering Command, United States Army, Aberdeen, Maryland; John Swann, Food and Drug Admini- stration, Washington, D.C.; Kathy Thomas, Post Street Archive, Midland, Michigan; Karen Thomelson, Lake County Historical Society, Kirtland Hills, Ohio; Michael Wilkinson and Rick Ralston, Ruth Lilly Medical Library , Indianapolis, Indiana; Mitchell Yockelson, National Archives and Records Administration,Washington,D.C.;andReneeZiemer,Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Many individuals kindly responded to my questions (and sometimes provided documents) about chemistry, chemical warfare, and other topics: Abu Alam, Jo Beckerich, Lucas Berresford, John Blandamer, Robert Boyle, William Brankowitz, William Brooks, Mark Brown, John Bryden, Bonnie Buthker, Chip Carson, Jeanette Clausen, Mac Coffman, Dianne Dehaseth, Ronald Duchovic, Ginny Durrin, John Ecklund,Patrick Eddington,Robert Edson, Michael Forgy, Richard Gibson, Donna Gordon, Marty Gray, Jody Hamm, James Hershberg, Cas Heuer, Harold Jaffe, David Jardy, Kevin Jasper, Daniel Jones, George Kajtsa, Reid Kirby, Michael Koredoski, Jim Lewis, Edmund Libby, John Lindsay-Poland, Iain MacKenzie, Vincent Maloney, Milt and Kathy McClung,Arend Meerburg,Pamela Miller,James Moore, Kevin Morrissey, John Mountcastle, Barbara Nabors, Erik Olsen, Kent Redman, Robert Reese, John Rentschler, Jr., Robert Ritter, Edmund Russell, Todd Sedmak, Kenneth Shuster, Joshua Sinai, Kent Slowinski, William Smith, Paula Schnurr, Tara Sweeney, Elmer Turner, Anthony Trozzolo , Cheryl Truesdell, Michael Wartell,David Wedepohl,Steve Wood,and Jane and Will Wuichet. Before Indiana University Press accepted this book for publication, I received thoughtful and helpful advice pertaining to publishing it from Julie Barer, Barbara Freese, Tad Floridis, Elizabeth Nagle, Neil Olson, and Robert Shepard. This book would not have been possiblewithoutthepatient, and in many cases long-term, assistance of others. The living descendants of Winford Lee Lewis were highly supportive of this project and provided many documents and insights about him: Philip Reiss, Lee and Wilson Harwood, and Wendy and Rich George. Philip Reiss also provided valuable editorial advice . Dr. David Hall, a former Army chemist, spent countless hours explaining lewisite chemistry to me via e-mail. Jeffery L. Frischkorn, a reporter for the Willoughby News-Herald, provided me with copies of all of his documents pertaining to the Willoughby plant and took me on a tour of Willoughby and the plant site. Richard Albright, a toxic waste specialist with the Washington, D.C., Department of Health, provided many documents and information pertaining to Spring Valley. Charles Bermpohl, a xvi Acknowledgments reporter for the Northwest Current, also provided much information about Spring Valley and introduced me to many individuals in Washington who were investigating Spring Valley issues. Mark Baker, historian for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Baltimore, kept me abreast of the Corps’ efforts in Spring Valley and provided...