[FOM] Whitehead conjecture/problem

[Colin McLarty]

Does anyone here know the origin of the "Whitehead conjecture"?  I mean the 
one which Shelah proved independent of ZF, which says every "Whitehead 
group" group is free, where a Whitehead group is a group G with 
Ext(G,Z)=0.  Did Whitehead himself consider this, or did it arise by 
generalizing his ideas?  Did he expect it to be true, or just wonder about it?

best, Colin