In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer (1954)

The transcript of the security hearing that stripped the father of the atomic bomb of his security clearance.

In 1954, during the height of Cold War suspicion, the Atomic Energy Commission held weeks of closed hearings on whether Oppenheimer could be trusted. Friends, colleagues and critics testified. The board voted to revoke his clearance.

In December 2022, the U.S. Secretary of Energy formally vacated the 1954 decision, calling the process flawed. The transcript, released by the government, is the story told in the 2023 film Oppenheimer, in the participants’ own words.

Part of the Boston Made Reader’s special collection Courage, Conscience & Service. Every book and document here is free to read.