Who Was My Grandfather
Donald Lewis Macdonald, Sr., my grandfather, was born on March 5, 1897, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Donald William Macdonald and Eliza Evelyn (Thomas) Macdonald. He attended local schools, graduating from Somerville High School in 1916, and started at Tufts Engineering that fall, becoming a member of the Class of 1920. While waiting to begin his stint with the US Navy in November 1918, WWI ended. He decided to continue working as a surveyor and a drafting instructor at Tufts rather than return to school, and he became known as a 2-year man.
For most of his career, he was an inspecting engineer. In this role, he ensured that projects and manufactured products comply with safety regulations, industry standards, and design plans. Generally, he worked on-site to inspect materials, verify functionality, and document progress.
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He began his career as a surveyor and as an instructor, first at Tufts from 1918-1919 and later for Franklin Union from 1921-1924. He worked for Stone and Webster Engineering, and then as the New England Manager of the Pittsburgh Testing Labs. He authored an article for the Journal of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers titled “The Inspection of Structural Steel” in September 1928.
My uncle wanted to pop into his father’s office when he was home on furlough, but didn’t know where his father’s office was in Boston. As it turns out, my uncle had to wait for his father outside the 161 Devonshire Street building. When his father emerged, my uncle was introduced to a senior Army official who was visiting him. My uncle later used this relationship to extend his furlough for his grandmother’s funeral.
When the depression forced Pittsburgh Testing Labs to close all of its locations he and his wife, 2 sons, and his mother moved to Chicago where he worked for the American Dairy Council for 18 months. The family returned to the Boston area in 1937, and he accepted a job with the American Security Fence Company, which gave him the leeway to pursue his own entrepreneurial projects, such as overseeing the construction of steel frames for houses being built by a contractor in Wellesley, Massachusetts. When access to steel became more restricted as the United States and Stone and Webster was beefing up their staffing for projects related to the building and shipping supplies to the European Allies engulfed in WWII.
He died on July 8, 1945, at McGhee-Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee, of an ‘apparent heart attack’ at age 48. No autopsy or other tests were performed to confirm the cause of death. His body was taken to a funeral home in nearby St. Mary’s, Tennessee, and then shipped home to be buried in the family plot. A Manhattan Project representative was sent with the body to assist with arrangements and ensure no project-related employees attended his funeral, which irritated my grandmother.
The Atomic Bomb
On August 6, 1945, the evening edition of the Boston Globe was filled with bold headlines about the atomic bomb and the super-secret army project to build the bomb. On page 12 of that edition, there is a picture of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, one of three secret cities developed to support the Manhattan Project. The other two are listed as Richland, Washington (now known as Hanford), and an undisclosed location in New Mexico (now known as Los Alamos).
People in the Boston, Massachusetts, area learned about the Manhattan Project and its relationship to Stone and Webster Engineering of Boston, and with the work done at Oak Ridge, which was related to the different ways that uranium was seperated to create enriched uranium know as U-235 and plutonium. The neighbors also now knew that this super-secret government project had indeed employed my grandfather. For the year or two before his death, he was rarely home. When he was home, which was the occasional weekend, a security man in a car was stationed outside the house. My father said he sometimes arrived on Friday night and sometimes on Saturday. He always left on Sunday. When his father was home, no one could visit the house which caused a lot of gossip among the neighbors, friends, and family.
A. E. Macdonald's Writing Life 
4 responses to “Uncovering Family History: My Grandfather’s Engineering Legacy”
This has been amazing to read. My grandfather was an engineer at Chapman Valve and one of the employees tasked with top secret MP work. My understanding is he worked on valve designs and production. But he was also gone for a very long trip. My mom recalls her dad arriving at their home in a vehicle stripped of the exterior front body (open air driving) and a large lead box welded to the back trunk area. With the uranium work that Chapman Valve also completed along with valve work (rod production is my understanding from the USGov health settlements) a large lead box makes sense. He was home just to say good-bye with an awareness of the possibility he may not return. He was gone for quite a long time as my mom would recall. As I dig through family files, I hope to find out more information. I do have my grandfather’s Manhattan Project certificate, but I do not think we still have his atomic pin. I recall him using it as a fishing weight which is a story for another day.
Thank you for reading and for your comments. That is an amazing story to tell about the lead box and not seeing your grandfather being away with the possibility of never returning. I like how he used the A-Pin as a fishing weight too. These men did a lot and, in the end, the pin wasn’t something you could wear around the house but had many other uses.
William Bill Shackleford, received a certificate from the United States of America. Of when he helped design the Trigger mechanism of the atomic bomb. I was told that me and my siblings could received Royalties from our grandfather how do i get a copy of that certificate
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for reaching out. My research was conducted by searching through records at the National Archives. I’m not sure how you would access that certificate today. Have you reached out to the Department of Energy?
Best,
Anne