Oak Ridge oral histories available online

Posted at 1:13 pm May 21, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

More than 150 oral histories of residents who played roles in Oak Ridge before, during, and after the top-secret Manhattan Project are now available online.

The histories are available through the Oak Ridge Public Library’s website, and there will be a May 29 ceremony to celebrate the launch of the online collection. Hosted by the Center for Oak Ridge Oral History (COROH), the reception will be in Oak Ridge Public Library auditorium from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

An Oak Ridge city press release said the online oral histories include full audio and complete transcriptions, and some contain video records. Additional histories are being gathered and will be added to the online collection.

To access the collection, go to the Public Library’s website at www.orpl.org, click on Departments & Services, then COROH, then Online Oral Histories. To view an alphabetical list of interviewees, click on the Browse All link.

The press release said COROH was established in 2009 as a partnership between the City of Oak Ridge and the U.S. Department of Energy, and it is headquartered at the Oak Ridge Public Library. A committee comprised of community volunteers, local organizations, and state and federal agencies provide advice and guidance to the city on its oral history initiative.

For more information, contact COROH at the Oak Ridge Public Library at (865) 425-3455 or by email at [email protected].

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret project during World War II to build the world’s first atomic weapons.

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