Physics History at Elmhurst University

April CARLI Member Archives Collection Highlight: Elmhurst University

Elmhurst University is the home of a piece of physics history.

In 1949, Dr. Samuel Allison of the University of Chicago designed a Cockcroft-Walton particle accelerator known as the Kevatron. The Kevatron was used for experiments using low energy collisions, but as years passed it was superseded by stronger particle accelerators. It sat gathering dust at the University of Chicago following Dr. Allison's death in 1965. Through a serendipitous set of circumstances, Elmhurst College’s physics department learned of the Kevatron and requested that it be donated to the college. 

The accelerator was donated to Elmhurst College on April 23, 1967, arriving in pieces via freight cars – fortunately there was a rail spur that led right to the building where the accelerator was to be reconstructed, part of a former lumber mill the college had acquired. Elmhurst renamed the Kevatron to the Allison Accelerator following the donation. As part of the donation, the University of Chicago provided supplies for reassembly as well as a staff member who could assist with technical questions. This donation was a huge win for Elmhurst – the Kevatron was only one of 15 in the nation at the time, and Elmhurst College, with about 1300 students (few of whom were physics majors), was the smallest academic institution in the nation to get one. 

It took almost six years, 32,000 man-hours (most provided by Elmhurst College students!), assistance from the University of Chicago, and grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and Commonwealth Edison to reassemble the accelerator. On October 17, 1973, the Allison Accelerator was powered up at Elmhurst College, successfully creating a proton beam at 230 KeV on the first attempt. The accelerator was used by the physics department for undergraduate research and experimental data for approximately 20 years.

In 2004, the accelerator building became the Barbara A. Kieft Accelerator ArtSpace, with the Allison Accelerator remaining the centerpiece of the new campus art gallery. The gallery is a stunning collaboration between art and science and has been used for multiple art shows and even as a stage for a play. 

Photos and documents of the accelerator are freely available via JSTOR.

Selected Images from the Rudolf G. Schade Archives, Elmhurst University

Caption: Physics department Chair Dr. William Sawyer and student Rebecca Krampitz observing the Allison particle accelerator at Elmhurst College, 1977.

Caption: Art exhibit in the Barbara A. Kieft Accelerator ArtSpace, mid 2000s.

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