08/18/2026
Founded in 1867 by the trailblazing German immigrant brothers Gustav, Otto, and Edward Mallinckrodt Sr., who dared to dream big, Mallinckrodt Chemical Works took flight from a humble St. Louis family enterprise to a pioneering industrial chemical and pharmaceutical innovator.
The plant north of downtown St. Louis played a pivotal role in refining the bulk of the purified uranium that fueled the groundbreaking Manhattan Project and the world's first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in 1942.
In June 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, a beacon of hope that prohibited racial discrimination in the national defense industries. As Mallinckrodt became a primary contractor for the Manhattan Project starting in 1942, they were legally required to hire Black employees, marking a significant milestone in the company's journey towards diversity and inclusion.
Although many Black workers hired during the 1940s and 1950s were funneled into vital, hands-on labor positions, including roles as janitors, material handlers, construction workers, and ore handlers who physically moved chemical drums.
Despite these strides, technical barriers persisted, with highly technical, scientific, and supervisory roles largely reserved for white employees, and Black employees facing formidable structural barriers to entering the company's esteemed analytical laboratories. Workers who handled the raw materials—unloading, crushing, and transporting uranium oxides and unrefined ores—were frequently exposed to high concentrations of radioactive dust and chemical fumes without adequate protective gear, a harsh reality that would later be acknowledged.
Decades later, federal compensation programs like the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) were established to provide medical benefits and payouts to former Mallinckrodt Destrehan Street plant workers (and their descendants) who developed cancers linked to this wartime work, offering a measure of justice and recognition to those who suffered. This wooden box can be seen at our shop location!!
