Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing earlier dated items used to prepare for the interview. The first file also contains administrative materials created before, during and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2000.0030: Julian P. Gudmundson, 2000 February
[identification of item], Julian P. Gudmundson Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0046, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Devon Boerman, 2019 December; Finding aid written by: Devon Boerman, 2019 December
Julian P. "Goody" Gudmundson (1916-2003) was a master chief constructionman (CUCM) and chief petty officer for the United States Navy. Initially rejected for service in the Navy due to his colorblindness, Gudmundson became a construction worker who worked on building army camps, and then became a carpenter worker at Douglas Aircraft in Los Angeles. In 1943, Gudmundson joined the United States Naval Construction Battalion, known as the Seabees, to do construction work in the Pacific during World War II. Gudmundson reenlisted for the Seabees in 1951, and after he finished his assigned construction projects, he became an Naval instructor in Virginia. Around 1955, Gudmundson volunteered for Operation Deep Freeze. The Navy chose him for Operation Deep Freeze II (1956-1957), where he was first sent to do construction training in the Arctic at Thule Air Base in Greenland before wintering over in Antarctica to finish construction on Little America and to transport cargo. Gudmundson returned to Antarctica in 1961 for blasting work for a nuclear reactor near McMurdo Station, where he set off deliberate explosions to shape the area to the reactor's specifications. Gudmundson returned to Antarctica in 1962 and 1963 during the summer seasons. From 1964-1967, Gudmundson served as White House Staff for President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of a military assignment. He then returned to Antarctica for three more summer seasons (1968, 1969, and 1975), including serving as the Command Master Chief for Operation Deep Freeze in 1975 before retiring from the military in 1976.
The Julian P. Gudmundson Oral History, dated 1965 and 1993-2002, contains audiocassettes, administrative information, and transcripts of the interview between Gudmundson and Brian Shoemaker of the American Polar Society that took place on February 24, 2000 regarding Gudmundson's experiences as a master chief constructionman in Antarctica and the Arctic regions. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics found in this oral history include construction in Antarctica, including the establishment of a camp at Little America and the nuclear power station at McMurdo Sound, ham radio communication and its role in pole-to-pole conversation, living conditions and experiences in the Antarctic camps of McMurdo and Little America, the first polar football game, and Gudmundson's service as White House Staff under Lyndon B. Johnson.