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Offered languages
- English
In the crisp autumn air, our tours feel especially immersive, timed perfectly for the Halloween season when New York’s history seems at its darkest.
Walk through the mind of a man, the making of an era, and the streets that shaped them both.
This walking tour connects the dots between radical ideas, world-shifting science, and the quiet streets of the Upper West Side—home to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the intellectual circles that helped shape the modern age. Against the backdrop of New Deal optimism and wartime urgency, explore how New York shaped the man who would become the "father of the atomic bomb." Along the way, you'll encounter the residences, schools, and institutions that influenced not only Oppenheimer but the scientific and political figures around him.
What's Included
Meeting and pickup
Outside 94 Corner Cafe on the corner of Broadway (east side) and West 94th Street (south side).
Main campus by Columbia University Plaza
Itinerary
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1Upper West Side
We will visit the premarital home of Ella Oppenheimer, Robert Oppenheimer's mother, to discuss J. Robert Oppenheimer's immigrant ancestry.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free -
2Upper West Side
We will visit the site of Oppenheimer's birth to discuss his parents' life in New York.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free -
3Upper West Side
We will visit the former home of Edwin R. A. Seligman to discuss Oppenheimer's education at the Ethical Culture School.
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
4Upper West Side
We will visit the Clarendon, the former home of William Randolph Hearst, who was the talk of Oppenheimer's childhood neighborhood and had ties with the world leaders who would be forever connected by WWII and Oppenheimer.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free -
5Riverside Drive
We will visit the childhood home of J. Robert Oppenheimer to discuss his childhood and adolescence.
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
6
Visitors will learn about the history of Riverside Drive that coincided with Oppenheimer's formative years.
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
7Riverside Drive
We will visit the Master Apartments to discuss FDR's New Deal and the various ideologies of that era that prospered and informed Oppenheimer as a young man.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free -
8
We will look at the Shinran Statue to discuss the cause and the effect of the atomic bomb.
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
9Riverside Drive
We will visit the home of Isidor Rabi, a pioneer in 20th-century physics, a Nobel Prize winner, and a close friend of Oppenheimer.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
Additional info
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Tags
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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Cancellation Policy
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Rating
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
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