May Bradford was born May 11, 1879 in Missouri. Her parents named her Cora May, but she almost always went by the name May. Growing up, she lived in mining camps in New Mexico, Colorado, and Oregon, where her father worked. She graduated from high school in Carthage, Missouri. She attended Stanford and studied art and mathematics, earning her degree in 1902. She then taught high school for one year in Seattle, Washington to earn the money to go to Paris and study art and was able to spend the next year in Paris.

William Hillman Shockley was born on September 18, 1855 in New Bedford, Massachusetts to William, a whaling captain, and Sarah Shockley. He had two younger brothers, George and Walter. Shockley graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1875. He worked for a time in Florida and California before moving to Nevada.

Robert Sidney was born on October 9, 1909 in New York, New York. Sidney made his acting debut on the set of The Good Earth at the age of 15. He later attened New York University (NYU), and while attending took on summer stock theater roles. Sidney made his Broadway debut in On Your Toes in 1936. He later choreographed musical shows while in the United States Army.

Dr. Robert Skaggs was born April 2, 1932 and grew up around the St. Louis, Missouri area. His father was a teamster with a milk delivery route, tried his hand at the restaurant business, and during World War II worked for the United States Cartridge. Several members of Skaggs’s family were teachers, including his grandmother and a couple of aunts. Skaggs graduated from Normandy High School and afterwards attended the Missouri School of Mines and majored in metallurgical engineering. He graduated in 1954 and went to work for DuPont University for two years.