Historic Sites Initiative

APS Historic Sites

Every year, the American Physical Society (APS) recognizes a select number of sites in the United States where important events in the history of physics took place.

With your nomination, you are helping to raise public awareness about noteworthy events and illuminate the impact of scientific advancements on everyday life.

New sites are selected by the APS Historic Sites Committee. Awardees receive a plaque commemorating the site's significance to physics, and a listing in the APS Historic Sites online directory.

Congratulations, 2020 Awardees

Congratulations to our newest historic sites, Morgan State University and Sanford Underground Research Facility!

Morgan State University
Baltimore, MD
On April 28, 1977, Morgan State University became the birthplace of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP). Its founders sought to promote the professional well-being of African American physicists within society at large and within the international scientific community. They have successfully mentored young Black students to increase their representation in physics and technology. Their persistent professional devotion to inclusion has produced the largest national organization that actively supports African American physicists.

Sanford Underground Research Facility
Lead, SD
From 1962 to 1994, Raymond Davis Jr. built and operated the first successful detector for solar neutrinos using John N. Bahcall’s theoretical model and working with William A. Fowler, Maurice Goldhaber, and numerous engineers and crew members on the 4850 Level of the Homestake Mine—now the Davis Campus at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. The result of Davis’s observations, just one third the theoretical expected flux, led to fundamental advances in particle physics and astrophysics. For his work, Davis received a share of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Masatoshi Koshiba for his research into the detection of cosmic neutrinos.

Historic Sites in the United States

Each of these sites has been formally recognized for historical significance to the field of physics. New nominations for historic sites open November 2, 2020. If you would like to nominate a new historic site, please review the guidelines.