Who was Miss Atomic Bomb? Historian Robert Friedrichs talks to ‘Las Vegas Magazine’ about solving the mystery

It’s hard to imagine a spectacle that could top showgirls and Sinatra in 1950s Las Vegas, but the Nevada Test Site, where nuclear weapons testing produced fascinating mushroom clouds viewable from casino rooftops, drew curious visitors to the city in droves. Atomic Museum Vegas offers a deep dive into this part of Vegas’ storied history, and it recently unveiled a new exhibit centered around Anna Lee Mahoney, more famously known as Miss Atomic Bomb, whose likeness was widely recognizable but whose identity remained anonymous until historian Robert Friedrichs solved the mystery.

What prompted your 25-year-long search for Miss Atomic Bomb’s true identity?

When they were building the museum, they talked about using that photo for marketing purposes. I thought it would really be neat if she were still alive and we were able to contact her, have her come to the opening and let her see how important that photo has been for the development of Las Vegas. Unfortunately … she had passed away before that decision was made. So it’s not 25 years (gone to) waste, but it’s nice to have the recognition finally documented and out there.

Why is it so important that this figure has a name?

I thought that her family needed to know. Unfortunately, she had no children. She was married, but her husband had passed away a few years before her. In doing the research, trying to track her down, we were looking at combinations of names … We lucked out when we were working with a combination and found a cousin’s daughter. The mother and the daughter are still alive, and I had included the pictures in the letter that I sent, explaining the fact that we were trying to get an identification on her … She unfortunately didn’t have any (pictures) and I asked her, what was her maiden name? That’s when everything broke loose. That’s when we got her birth certificate, we got her Social Security record, and on the Social Security record, another name associated with that number was Lee Merlin (her stage name).

When that dam burst, I’m sure that was an exciting moment.

Oh, yes. When you have no name other than a stage name … that still doesn’t get you anything, you know? So we really were lucky. I did a presentation (at Atomic Museum) on the different iterations of Miss Atomic … and at the end of the lecture I always would say, “Now, are you ready to help me find out who it is?” And lo and behold, there was a DRI (Desert Research Institute) employee that was sitting in the back of the room. She immediately went upstairs and started searching, and she found an obituary that indicated (Merlin) had been a showgirl at the Sands Hotel …and that struck a bell for me. That one comment would lead me to who her dance instructor was … who identified that she was in California at the key time period where Lee Merlin was popping up in news articles and photos as being there … and she was registered as a voter with her stage name. It was just pure coincidence that I had asked that question.

Can you recall seeing Miss Atomic Bomb used widespread, or was this one marketing instance that just took off?

Actually, they didn’t use that photo in the first press release. They used a different one, and it was a small picture in one newspaper. Then they went out with this one, and that’s the one the public went crazy over ... And the other issue is that this is such a controversial picture. People have written articles on it and said that she was nude, except for the mushroom cloud. You can see the swimsuit, but people’s imagination just ran with it, and that is considered one of the 100 best photos ever taken.

Were you able to contact photographer Don English, who took the photo, before he passed away?

Oh, we met several times. And Don was just super. He really was a true gentleman. And if you were interested in his work, he wanted to share it.

After receiving additional pictures of Lee Merlin from English, how did you go about face-matching her appearances around Las Vegas?

UNLV Special Collections. They'd bring out the boxes, and I'd just go through them and they'd copy anything I wanted. And so that's, that's where I first learned about the stage names. I didn't really think anything about it before. If you're a famous person, I can understand (the appeal of a stage name). But for the average individual, they were so adamant about being white, Anglo-Saxon that if you had a name that appeared to be of Italian origin or anything like that (you got a new name). That really made me stop and think, "Okay, I see a name here. It's a stage name. It looks too English." That's when I started looking at alternatives and trying to sort through that maze. And that's why I was only 85% sure until I actually saw that Social Security record where she had her married name, her maiden name, and Lee Merlin in the middle.

Did you release her maiden name or her married name?

Her maiden name. And she had moved back to New York after leaving (Las Vegas). And that's where she met her husband, who was a horn player. I think he was a trumpet (player) in various bands, and they moved to Hawaii. They lived there for many years and he had his own business. When he passed away, she sold the business, sold the house they were in, if they owned it, and then she moved back to Pennsylvania for a short time then moved out to Santa Cruz.

Before we leave, a question that's really been on our minds: Was there a sort of fear of something going awry at the Nuclear Test Site, since residents had to wear dog tags with their blood type on them and whatnot?

It wasn’t fear. The average person looked at it as helping Las Vegas grow. And they wouldn’t (detonate) it if the wind was blowing this way. That was the agreement, it would go to the lowest population areas to the East and North. So that was a strategic decision that the minimum number of people could potentially be exposed at any given time.

Atomic Museum Vegas. 755 E. Flamingo Road. 702.409.7366. atomicmuseum.vegas

Click here for your free subscription to the weekly digital edition of Las Vegas Magazine, your guide to everything to do, hear, see and experience in Southern Nevada. In addition to the latest edition emailed to every week, you’ll find plenty of great, money-saving offers from some of the most exciting attractions, restaurants, properties and more! And Las Vegas Magazine is full of informative content such as restaurants to visit, cocktails to sip and attractions to enjoy.