Office of History, Kenneth Nichols papers

US Army Corps of Engineers Office of History Kenneth D. Nichols Papers July 2023 Repository: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office of History Humphreys Engineer Center 7701 Telegraph Road Alexandria, VA 22315 Title: Kenneth D. Nichols Papers Short Form: Nichols Papers Dates: 1925-1996 Extent: 30 standard size document boxes; 1 slim standard size document box; 12 oversize boxes; and 3 oversize folders (28.58 linear feet) Name of Creator: Kenneth D. Nichols (1907-2000) Biographical Note: Kenneth D. Nichols was born on 13 November 1907 in Cleveland, Ohio. He entered West Point in 1925 and graduated in 1929. He reported to Ft. Humphreys as a second lieutenant in September 1929 and was assigned to the Army Engineer Battalion in Nicaragua for survey work on the proposed Nicaraguan Interoceanic Canal. From 1931-1933, Nichols attended Cornell University and received degrees of Civil Engineer and Master of Civil Engineering. He then reported to Vicksburg as Assistant Director of the U.S. Waterways Experiment Station. From 1934-1935, he attended the Technische Hochschula, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany, under a fellowship of the Institute of International Education established for the purpose of studying European hydraulic research methods. This was followed by successive tours of duty at Vicksburg; the University of Iowa where he received a PhD in Hydraulic Engineering; Fort Belvoir; and West Point where he served four years as an instructor in the Department of Civil and Military Engineering. After leaving the U.S. Military Academy, in 1941, Nichols served as Area Engineer in charge of construction of the Rome Air Deport, Rome, New York and the Pennsylvania Ordnance Works at Williamsport. In 1942, Nichols was assigned to the Manhattan Engineer District. He was initially assigned as Deputy District Engineer and subsequently as District Engineer in August 1943. In this capacity he had supervision of the research and development connected with, and the design, construction and