Physicist and author Hattie Carwell is writing a book about black scientists who were involved in the Manhattan Project (1942-1945) and came across a man who was a Gloucester native in her research. His name was George Sherman Carter.
Carwell, executive director of the Museum of African American Technology (MAAT) Science Village in California, met with Pastor Ronald W. Gayle Sr. of the Historic Zion Poplars Baptist Church at his church to discuss the life of George Sherman Carter.
Carter, who went by Sherman, is one of the hidden heroes of the Manhattan Project. More details were revealed about his life through further research and discussion done post meeting.
Carter was born on May 10, 1911 in Gloucester to George Peter Carter and Emily Maude (Anderson) Carter. When Carwell and Gayle met, it was known that Carter had moved up north, but there was very little known about his childhood in Gloucester. There is no known date as to when he moved north and little was known about where he lived in Gloucester.
An article written by the New York Amsterdam News in 1998 and provided by Investigative Editor Damaso Reyes, said that Carter grew up on a farm known as Shelley Plantation. In 1929, he moved to New York, earning his high school diploma from the Harlem Evening High School. The Amsterdam News article also said Carter he had four siblings—one sister and three brothers.
According to the U.S. Census, Carter had more siblings than initially thought. He had two sisters; one was named Alberta Carter and the other was named Rebecca Carter. He had four brothers—Thomas, Clarence, and Isiah. It is possible he may have had more siblings than are listed.
Carter went to college at Lincoln University, a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in Chester County, Philadelphia, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology in 1940. Based on what was in his bio under his picture in the Lincoln University yearbook, Carter was very active in his school community as he was involved in a Fireside group, president of New York Club, a member of the intramural track team as well as Wissenschaft Verein (a study group). He also became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.
Census information revealed that Carter married Kathleen Marguerite Francis, a school teacher from Panama, on Oct. 1, 1939. Carter was 28 at the time, and Kathleen was 29. Carter was also still in college at the time. After graduating, he and Kathleen had a daughter they named Beverly Kathleen Carter in 1942.
Carwell said that after Carter graduated from Lincoln, he attended Columbia University in Harlem to study nuclear fission. During his time there, Carter was hired by Columbia to work along with the University of Chicago on the Manhattan Project, which led to the creation of the first atomic bomb.
“During World War II, if you attended Columbia University and University of Chicago and in science and math, more than likely your research assignments and focus was related to the research going on at that time,” said Carwell. “So he (Carter) studied nuclear fission at Columbia. Columbia (and) the University of Chicago were two major universities involved in doing research (on nuclear reactors). Columbia had already started nuclear fission and was working on fundamental principles of nuclear fission. The University of Chicago is where the first sustained nuclear chain reaction, first reactor (happened) under the football stadium … the early research to even get to the point to know what to do to create the reactor that research was being done at Columbia,” said Carwell.
She said that in Carter’s later life, after World War II, he, his wife and daughter stayed in Harlem, where he became an active member of his community. His home church was the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, the church of Adam Clayton Powell Sr., who was the father of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., notable black congressman during the 1950s and 1960s. Carter also joined another church called Unity Baptist Church, which was also in Harlem. He worked for the New York City Health Department as an inspector and he also was a landlord.
“He was very active in his community and his renters held him quite dearly. He was a fair landlord,” said Carwell.
In the article from the New York Amsterdam News, it was said that Carter enjoyed his career in the New York City Health Department as an inspector, where he examined hospitals, sanitariums, public health institutions, and others.
Once he retired, he moved to the Riverside Drive area of Manhattan with his wife, where they bought multiple properties, renovated the townhouses on them and rented them at a fair rate. His tenants loved and adored Carter dearly, as well as his neighbors. He also loved the great outdoors and he considered himself a country boy at heart. He also loved to fish.
Carter passed away on Nov. 13, 1998 in Harlem. His final resting place is the Historic Zion Poplars Baptist Church in Gloucester, in the Carter family plot.