Exhibition Themes > History of Science, Mathematics, Technology > 172. Marie Curie
172a. Academic cap worn by Marie Curie while receiving honors at American colleges and universities, 1921. RBML, Meloney-Curie Papers
172b. Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934). Impressions of America. Autograph manuscript, 11 leaves, 1921. RBML, Meloney-Curie Papers
The American editor and journalist Marie Mattingly Meloney first met Madame Curie in May 1920 when she went to interview her at the Radium Institute of the Sorbonne. When Mrs. Meloney learned that the scientist had no radium with which to carry on her experiments, she founded the Marie Curie Radium Fund and raised over $100,000 from private donations for the purchase of one gram of the precious element. Curie's visit to the United States was arranged by Mrs. Meloney for May and June of 1921 so that the scientist could personally receive the radium from President Harding at a White House reception. During her stay, Curie attended dinners and receptions in her honor and visited colleges and universities, as well as such tourist attractions as the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. A few days after her return to France, she sent this manuscript of her account of the visit to Mrs. Meloney for publication in The Delineator.
Gift of William B. Meloney, Jr., in memory of Marie Mattingly Meloney, 1956
