Test Single (deleteme)

Participant Info

Membership Number
7644
Salutation
First Name
Irene
Middle/Maiden/Previous
Last Name
Kuhn
Address 1
5647 San Jose Ave
Address 2
City
Richmond
State
CA
Zip Code
94804
Phone
510-932-9115
Code
Rb1
Work Code #
11
State Membership
CA
Status
Alive
Date of Birth
02/11/1915
Date of Death
Deceased At Join?
No
Comments
Below is Lidia Manson bio and wartime photo of Lidia in her research laboratory in 1943, photo from Olean Times Herald newspaper: Biography of Lidia Manson for Rosie the Riveter Organization Oct. 14, 2023 By Irene, Charles, and Peter Kuhn Lidia Manson, PhD was a physicist specializing in cryogenics, the study of heat transfer in engines, ultimately contributing to the design of the Apollo Program NASA rockets. Born into a Jewish family in 1915 in Odessa, Ukraine, Lidia’s family escaped from Stalinist-USSR in 1925 into Germany, where the children attended German schools for 4 years before the family settled in Paris, France. Lidia attended high school and then the Sorbonne in Paris, graduating with a degree in Physics. She joined an engineering research team after graduation, a job she held through the first year of WW II. Lidia was the only member of her family to escape Nazi-occupied France, arriving in New York in 1941 strongly motivated to help the Allied war effort. Having earned a degree in Physics at the Sorbonne in Paris before the war, once in the USA Lidia went on to become the first woman to earn a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Penn State College (where she also perfected her English!). Having completed her Masters, she very rapidly earned top security clearance because the US military was eager to have her expertise as a European-trained physicist and mechanical engineer. Lidia was hired by an airplane engine company on the east coast that had dedicated itself to the war effort. There, Lidia served the Allied WWII effort by analyzing recovered German-built engines to learn what technical advantages the United States could adapt for use in our war effort. The accompanying photograph was taken of Lidia as she worked in her laboratory, analyzing the mechanics of a German submarine engine. After the war, Lidia returned to France in 1946 to learn that her parents had been captured and murdered in Auschwitz. It was a very difficult period. Lidia returned to the US, married a fellow engineer, John Kuhn, and in 1947 they started a family, which eventually grew to 4 children: Marie, Irene, Charles, and Peter. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1950, the postwar center of the burgeoning aeronautics industry. There Lidia was hired by Arthur D. Little (A prominent science and technology company consulting on the Apollo 11 mission) and also began graduate school night classes in the Physics Department at UCLA. Despite earning the highest marks on the PhD Qualifying Exam, Lidia was unable to complete her Doctorate thesis because the Physics Department refused her request for the funds she required to pay for childcare for her 4 young children while she wrote her PhD Thesis. Throughout her career, Lidia spoke at events to encourage young women and girls to enter, and be supported in, STEM fields. Undaunted, Lidia went on to lead Cryogenics Research teams at TRW Aerospace Co., where she designed rocket propulsion systems for NASA, focusing on the enormous heat-resistance and heat-transfer requirements of successful rocket launches, particularly in the NASA Apollo Program. Based on her research and experience, in the evenings Lidia taught Rocket Design at Northridge State College. Based on her published research, Lidia earned a PhD in Physics in April 1974. After a long and productive career, Lidia Manson died at the age of 90 in March 2005. She is sorely missed. (Website will not allow me to attach the photo of Lidia at work; please let me know how to submit this photo to ARRA). Rosie born 02/11/1915; death 03/20/2005
Name/Location of Company Worked
Clark Brothers, Olean, New York
Dates of Work
1943 - 1945
Type of Work
Physicist who analyzed recovered German engine (airplane, submarine) to learn German technical advances that could aid the US military in engine design or weapons design.
Rosie Name if Rb or Rv
Lidia Manson, Daughter
Is/Was Rosie a member of ARRA?
No
Contact Name (Deceased Rosie Contact)
Contact Email Address
Contact Phone Number
Contact Relationship