US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION - Oak Ridge, TN FacilityThe Chief arrived for duty at Oak Ridge April 1, 1949.
He would remain there for two years, Oak Ridge was established in 1942 as a production site for the Manhattan Project—the massive American, British, and Canadian operation that developed the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project was the joint effort by the United States of America, United Kingdom, and Canada to produce the first atomic weapons during World War II.
MANHATTAN PROJECTThe U.S. government created a top ‘Secret Town’ aka ”The Atomic City’ now called
Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The government bought up about 68,000 acres of land and about 1,000 Tennessee families were given two weeks or less to vacate. All the while, other secret towns were created elsewhere in the US as part of the race to create an atomic weapon. We can peer into the past, previously shrouded in secrecy, into the atomic city where the Little Boy bomb was created before General Paul Tibbet's, piloting the Enola Gay, dropped it on Hiroshima. It’s a story that involves Soviet atomic spies, espionage, compartmentalization to guard secrets, and government billboards encouraging secrecy among Oak Ridge workers. The Moment in Time: The Manhattan ProjectThe Moment in Time documents the uncertain days of the beginning of World War II when it was feared the Nazis were developing the atomic bomb. The history of the bomb's development is traced through those who worked on what was known as "The Gadget".
56 minute film. Voices of the Manhattan ProjectVoices of the Manhattan Project" is a joint project by the Atomic Heritage Foundation and the Los Alamos Historical Society to create a public archive of our oral history collections of Manhattan Project veterans and their families.
Their online collection features over 300 audio/visual interviews with Manhattan Project workers and their families, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie R. Groves, Glenn Seaborg, Hans and Rose Bethe, George and Vera Kistiakowsky, and many more. "Voices" now includes interviews with some of the men who flew on the bombing missions. More >
"The Gadgets"
POST MANHATTAN PROJECT US Atomic Energy Commission 1949 > |
The Secret CityOak Ridge's nicknames include the Atomic City, the Secret City, the Ridge, and the City Behind the Fence.
60 great, rarely seen pictures of the Atomic City
DOE Photos taken by Ed Westcot, mostly 1942-1945, but a few into the 50's and 60's. Now reinvented as:The Manhattan ProjectThe Birth of the Atomic Bomb in the Words of Its Creators, Eyewitnesses,
and Historians Edited by Cynthia C. Kelly, with an Introduction by Richard C. Rhodes General TibbetsThen and honoring his 90th Birthday with his previous crews, and airshow and dinner for hundreds of this closest friends at an invitation olny event at Peachtree-Dekalb Airport in Atlanta, GA. More >
Tinian IslandSilent, Raw Atomic Bomb Footage: Tinian (1945)
Part 1 Silent, raw, silent footage from Tinian during World War II shows the loading of the "Little Boy" atomic bomb aboard the B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay," and early morning activity on Tinian on 6 August, 1945, prior to takeoff. Source: Naval History and Heritage Command. Part 2 Footage of the landing of the B-29 "Enola Gay" after completion of its atomic bomb mission over Hiroshima, and the awarding of the Distinguished Service Cross to its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. It then shows preparation of the "Fat Man". Part 3 Footage from Tinian during World War II shows footage of the "Fat Man" atomic bomb being loaded aboard the B-29 Superfortress "Bock's Car," and aerial footage of the mushroom cloud over Japan. |