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In this book the author traces the story of the unsung World War II workers in Oak Ridge, Tennessee through interviews with dozens of surviving women and other Oak Ridge residents. This is the story of the young women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, who unwittingly played a crucial role in one of the most significant moments in U.S. history. The Tennessee town of Oak Ridge was created from scratch in 1942. One of the Manhattan Project's secret cities, it did not appear on any maps until 1949, and yet at the height of World War II it was using more electricity than New York City and was home to more than 75,000 people, many of them young women recruited from small towns across the South. Their jobs were shrouded in mystery, but they were buoyed by a sense of shared purpose, close friendships, and a surplus of handsome scientists and Army men. But against this wartime backdrop, a darker story was unfolding. The penalty for talking about their work, even the most innocuous details, was job loss and eviction. One woman was recruited to spy on her coworkers. They all knew something big was happening at Oak Ridge, but few could piece together the true nature of their work until the bomb "Little Boy" was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, and the secret was out. The shocking revelation: the residents of Oak Ridge were enriching uranium for the atomic bomb. Though the young women originally believed they would leave Oak Ridge after the war, many met husbands there, made lifelong friends, and still call the seventy-year-old town home. The reverberations from their work there, work they did not fully understand at the time, are still being felt today.… (more)
Kiernan explores the role women played in World War II’s Manhattan Project Oak Ridge, Tennessee location. The plant and the town of Oak Ridge sprang up nearly overnight as the project went into high gear. Women were involved in every aspect of its operations, including secretarial work, human resources, statistics, chemical analysis, equipment monitoring, janitorial work, nursing, and journalism. There is some selection bias since the women profiled were still living at the time Kiernan began work on this book. Many of the women still live in Oak Ridge or its vicinity, but some of the women had moved on to other locations.
Since I’m a Knoxville native, this is local history for me. Oak Ridge has not been a secret in my lifetime. I’ve always been able to go there, either with my family or on school field trips to the children’s museum or the Museum of Science and Energy. I’ve always been curious about its secret history, and this book didn’t disappoint!
One minor quibble. Kiernan includes the story of Ebb Cade, an African American construction worker who was subjected to medical experimentation without his consent. Cade wasn’t one of the “girls” of Atomic City, nor were the doctors who experimented on him, so he doesn’t belong in this book. He deserves his own book, but it seems that it hasn’t yet been written. ( )
Good overall, but I was left feeling there could have been more. Maybe that's a sign of good writing ("I like this so much, I wish there was more"), or of poor writing ("I feel like we've got gaps and are missing some details."). Take your pick. But nonetheless, the topic of the Manhattan Project and of Oak Ridge's role in it is fascinating, and focusing on the women in the city provides a satisfying perspective.
[Audiobook note: the reader, Cassandra Campbell, does a very good job. Four stars for her.] ( )
I did a fast skim of this book. I toured Oak Ridge a few months ago on a cross country trip, and I visited the museum there. I also heard the author Denise Kiernan, speak at our library here in Kansas City, last year. The book deserves more than a fast skim! It's a fascinating read. Government secrecy. Cultural impacts. Medical impacts. ( )
Oh my goodness! Very interesting to read about the extraordinary efforts of the Mormon pioneers to build a wagon road and cross impassible country to reach and found the San Juan Mission near Bluff, Utah during the winter, no less. Their ingenuity and fortitude were ultimate. ( )
(Introduction) There have long been secrets buried deep in the southern Appalachians, covered in layers of shale and coal, lying beneath the ancient hills of the Cumberlands, and lurking in the shadow of the Smokies at the tail end of the mountainous spine that ripples down the East Coast.
That morning, the excitement coursing throughout the complex known as the Castle was infectious.
Quotations
Last words
Dot took the lei she had carried with her and tossed the ring of blossoms out into the open water, knowing it was not only the first but likely the last time she would ever place flowers on her brother's grave.
In this book the author traces the story of the unsung World War II workers in Oak Ridge, Tennessee through interviews with dozens of surviving women and other Oak Ridge residents. This is the story of the young women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, who unwittingly played a crucial role in one of the most significant moments in U.S. history. The Tennessee town of Oak Ridge was created from scratch in 1942. One of the Manhattan Project's secret cities, it did not appear on any maps until 1949, and yet at the height of World War II it was using more electricity than New York City and was home to more than 75,000 people, many of them young women recruited from small towns across the South. Their jobs were shrouded in mystery, but they were buoyed by a sense of shared purpose, close friendships, and a surplus of handsome scientists and Army men. But against this wartime backdrop, a darker story was unfolding. The penalty for talking about their work, even the most innocuous details, was job loss and eviction. One woman was recruited to spy on her coworkers. They all knew something big was happening at Oak Ridge, but few could piece together the true nature of their work until the bomb "Little Boy" was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, and the secret was out. The shocking revelation: the residents of Oak Ridge were enriching uranium for the atomic bomb. Though the young women originally believed they would leave Oak Ridge after the war, many met husbands there, made lifelong friends, and still call the seventy-year-old town home. The reverberations from their work there, work they did not fully understand at the time, are still being felt today.
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They came from all across the US, to a city not found on any map. They were forbidden to talk about their work, even to each other. Racing against the clock to save their country, what they created would change the war-and the world-forever. At the height of WWII, Oak Ridge, TN, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than NYC. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians-many of them young women from small tows across the South-were recruited to work in this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature to work they preformed each day, in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. That is, until the end of the war-whern Oak Ridge'sd secret was revealed. Drawing on the voices of the women who lived it-women who are now in their eighties and nineties-The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of American history from obscurity. Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage. (ARC)
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5
Since I’m a Knoxville native, this is local history for me. Oak Ridge has not been a secret in my lifetime. I’ve always been able to go there, either with my family or on school field trips to the children’s museum or the Museum of Science and Energy. I’ve always been curious about its secret history, and this book didn’t disappoint!
One minor quibble. Kiernan includes the story of Ebb Cade, an African American construction worker who was subjected to medical experimentation without his consent. Cade wasn’t one of the “girls” of Atomic City, nor were the doctors who experimented on him, so he doesn’t belong in this book. He deserves his own book, but it seems that it hasn’t yet been written. (