Albert Einstein Fund-Raising Telegram 1946. In reference to this Summers blockbuster hit Oppenheimer , we are offering this rare and timeless piece of ephemera showcasing Dr. Albert Einstein and his efforts to help finance the atomic bomb program. This telegram was sent to many prominent Americans as a personal appeal by Albert Einstein to raise money for a nationwide campaign to raise public awareness about atomic energy and how it can be used for good or evil, especially in the aftermath of World War II. Einstein was head of the newly formed Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, and the telegram was sent out on May 25, 1946 to several hundred prominent Americans to raise money for this purpose, and someone was lucky enough to save this telegram and let us consign it in the present auction. The telegram is from Western Union and sent from Princeton, New Jersey to Louis K. Friedman at the First National Bank in Pittsburgh, asking for $200,000 to promote a new type of thinking for the world. There were only eight members on the Board of Trustees of the Committee: Einstein was chairman of the committee and four other members on the committee were mentioned in the telegram - Hans Bethe of Cornell University, who played a major role in the development of the atomic bomb; Leo Szilard, of the Manhattan Engineering District’s atomic laboratory at the University of Chicago - he pioneered the development of atomic power piles; Harold Urey at the University of Chicago’s Institute for Nuclear Studies - he won a Nobel prize and directed the atomic research center at Columbia University; and Edward Condon, president of the American Physical Society and Director of the National Bureau of Standards. The telegram reads: “Our world faces a crisis as yet unperceived by those possessing power to make great decisions for good or evil. The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift towards unparalleled catastrophe. We scientists who released this immense power have an overwhelming responsibility in this world life and death struggle to harness the atom for the benefit of mankind and not for humanity’s destruction. Bethe, Condon, Szilard, Urey, and the Federation of American Scientists join me in in this appeal, and beg you to support our efforts to bring realization to America that mankind’s destiny is being decided today - now - at this moment. We need two hundred thousand dollars at once for a nation-wide campaign to let the people know that a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move forward toward higher levels. This appeal is sent to you only after long consideration of the immense crisis we face. Urgently request you send immediate check to me as chairman, Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, Princeton. N.J.. We ask your help at this fateful moment as a sign that we scientists do not stand alone. Albert Einstein”. We believe this is one of the couple of hundred telegrams that were sent out to raise money for the Committee and its work, so it is a rare piece of world history that should never be forgotten. Overall Size: 8 3/4 x 10 3/4 in. Sight Size: 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. #4125