Lloyd Quarterman

Born on May 31, 1918, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he displayed a love of the scientific method early in life, frequently experimenting with chemistry sets. As a young man, Quarterman attended St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1943.{{sfn|Spangenburg|2003|pp=198–199}}

After earning his degree, Quarterman was hired to work on the Manhattan Project. As one of the few African Americans to work on the project, Quarterman was chiefly responsible for the design and construction of a special distillation system for purifying large quantities of hydrogen fluoride. This hydrogen fluoride would be used to separate the Uranium isotope U-235 for the construction of the atomic bombs. The U-235 that Quarterman helped accumulate was used to make Little Boy, the uranium bomb that was exploded over Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.{{sfn|Carey|2008|pp=173–174}} After the war, Quarterman was presented with a certificate of recognition for his development of the Atom Bomb and his contribution to the conclusion of World War II.{{sfn|Williams|2008}}

There were two primary laboratories associated with the Manhattan Project; one at the University of Chicago and the other at Columbia University. At the University of Chicago, Quarterman worked under Dr. Enrico Fermi, a notable Italian physicist. While at Columbia University, Quarterman worked with Albert Einstein.{{sfn|African American Registry|2025}} After the war, Quarterman worked at the then newly established Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois, where he continued to work for over 30 years. At Argonne, Quarterman was an assistant to the associate research scientist and chemist from 1943 to 1949. He assisted with the first nuclear reactor for atomic-powered submarines.{{sfn|Carter Sluby|2004|p=113}} Quarterman graduated from Northwestern University with a Master of Science in 1952.{{sfn|Encyclopedia.com|2019}} After graduating, Quarterman continued his work with F, synthesizing new compounds by reacting F with noble gases, especially xenon.{{sfn|African American Registry|2025}} These compounds were surprising because noble gases were considered unable to combine with other atoms at the time.{{sf|Absher|2011}} After several years of influential work, Lloyd Quarterman received an honorary Ph.D. in chemistry from St. Augustine's College in 1971.{{sfn|Williams|2008}} Quarterman remained a member of the Chicago chapter of the NAACP and gave frequent lectures, inspiring African Americans to pursue education in the sciences.{{sfn|African American Registry|2025}}

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• {{cite web| author=African American Registry | title=Lloyd Quarterman.|url= https://aaregistry.org/story/lloyd-quarterman-chemist-born/|accessdate=12 February 2022|year=2025}}
• {{cite web|first=A.|last=Absher|title= Lloyd Albert Quarterman (1918-1982)|url= https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/quarterman-lloyd-albert-1918-1982/|accessdate=12 February 2022|year=2011}}
• {{cite book|last=Carey | first=Charles W. |title=American Scientists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00r9waSNv1cC&pg=PA294|accessdate=13 June 2012|year=2006|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4381-0807-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Carey | first=Charles W. |title=African Americans in Science: An Encyclopedia of People and Progress|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/African_Americans_in_Science/QuTNEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=African%20Americans%20in%20Science%3A%20an%20encyclopedia%20of%20people%20and%20progress&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO, Inc|location=New York|isbn=978-1-85109-998-6}}
• {{cite book| last=Carter Sluby | first=Patricia |title=The Inventive Spirit of African Americans: Patented Ingenuity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wz-DTSXeLRYC&pg=PA113|accessdate=2 August 2014|year=2004|publisher=Praeger Publishers|location=Connecticut|isbn=0-275-96674-7}}
• {{cite magazine | author=Ebony | title=Atom Scientists: Ten Negro Scientists at Argonne Lab Help in Race to Harness Atomic Materials |work=Ebony magazine |date=1949 |volume=September}}
• {{cite web|author=Encyclopedia.com| year=2019 | url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/quarterman-lloyd-albert-1918-1982|title=Quarterman, Lloyd Albert 1918–1982 {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=18 February 2025}}
• {{cite book|last=Spangenburg|first=Ray | title=African Americans in Science, Math, and Invention. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOZ8kF5ynEC&pg=PA198|accessdate=2 August 2014|year=2003|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=978-1-43810-774-5}}
• {{cite web| last=Williams| first=Scott | title= Lloyd Quarterman. Physicist of the African Diaspora.|url= http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/physics/quaterman_lloyda.html|accessdate=12 February 2022|year=2008}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130725103314/http://blackhistorypages.net/pages/lquarterman.php Black History Pages: Dr. Lloyd Quarterman]

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Category:20th-century African-American scientists

Category:Manhattan Project people

Category:1918 births

Category:1982 deaths

Category:Argonne National Laboratory people

Category:Scientists from Philadelphia

Category:20th-century American chemists

Category:St. Augustine's University (North Carolina) alumni