• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




Oak Ridge to begin 75th Anniversary Celebration in September

Posted at 10:58 am August 24, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

Oak Ridge will begin its 75th Anniversary Celebration in September, a press release said.

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren L. Gooch announced Thursday that the city will form a committee to help coordinate and circulate information about the 75th anniversary, the press release said.

The 75th anniversary festivities will begin in September and continue through the end of 2018, the release said.

Among the planned events are a lecture presented by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association on September 15, 2017, titled “The Legacy of Place” by guest speaker Denise Kiernan, author of “The Girls of Atomic City” and “The Last Castle.”

The Oak Ridge Fire Department plans to host “Then and Now,” a 1940s-era Fire Prevention Parade along Oak Ridge Turnpike on October 7, 2017.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex will celebrate the anniversaries of their respective beginnings as well, the press release said.

“These are only a few examples of the events in store for the community over the next year,” the release said. “Additional events will be announced as they are confirmed.”

There will be a news conference next week to introduce the Mayor’s 75th Anniversary Committee, reveal the official 75th Anniversary logo, and launch the 75th Anniversary Website. The public is invited. The news conference will be held at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike starting at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, August 31, with an informal social event to follow. For more information, contact Explore Oak Ridge at (865) 483-1321.

Advertisement

Photographer Ed Westcott will be the honored guest at the September 15 celebration that will feature author Denise Kiernan. It’s scheduled to start with historical displays at the Historic Grove Theater at 2 p.m. Friday, September 15. The celebration is free and open to the public, an event flyer said, but donations to Friends of the Grove and the ORHPA are welcome.

Westcott was the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. He will be the honored guest from 4 to 5:30 p.m. September 15. There will be a photo slide show presented by Don and Emily Hunnicutt, as well as a question-and-answer session.

Kiernan’s talk is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. September 15. There will be a book signing, and books will be for sale.

The celebration will also feature a closing reception with birthday cake, an event flyer said.

Oak Ridge’s birthday has been recognized on September 19. That’s because the city that is now Oak Ridge was picked for the Manhattan Project on September 19, 1942, almost 75 years ago. That was the day that General Leslie Groves approved the acquisition of 59,000 acres of land along the Clinch River for what soon became the Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs, before Germany could. Oak Ridge was then 90 square miles of East Tennessee farmland. It was the first site for Manhattan Project facilities.

By the time President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the Manhattan Project on December 28, 1942, work on the East Tennessee site where the first production facilities were to be built was already under way.

Oak Ridge became the home of two uranium enrichment plants (K-25 and Y-12), a liquid thermal diffusion plant (S-50), and a pilot plutonium production reactor (X-10 Graphite Reactor). Groves approved Oak Ridge as the site for the pilot plutonium plant and the uranium enrichment plant in 1942. Manhattan Project engineers had to quickly build a town to accommodate 30,000 workers—as well as build the enormously complex plants.

Advertisement

Also approved was the removal of the relatively few families on the marginal farmland and extensive site preparation to provide the transportation, communications, and utility needs of the town and production plants that would occupy the previously undeveloped area. At first, this location was known as “Site X” and later changed to the Clinton Engineer Works, named after the nearest town. After the war, the name was again changed officially to Oak Ridge. (For more on this story, visit the Oak Ridge page on the Atomic Heritage Foundation website: http://www.atomicheritage.org/location/oak-ridge-tn.)

There was a celebration in Jackson Square on September 19, 2012, almost five years ago, in honor of Oak Ridge’s 70th birthday. That celebration include historic displays and talks, special games and activities, a preservation award, and a special free showing of “Fat Man and Little Boy” inside the Oak Ridge Playhouse.

The 75th anniversary committee was to be formed in conjunction with Explore Oak Ridge (the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau), and it is expected to recognize the city’s roots during the next 16 months. The committee is expected to serve as an approving committee for officially sanctioned events within Oak Ridge.

Gooch had been asked to chair the group and work with Explore Oak Ridge and its committee to review and sanction proposed events and coordinate the planning of the celebration years. Those activities could include events by local clubs, the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, and Celebrate Oak Ridge, among others, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said recently.

More information will be added as it becomes available.


Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2017 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge Tagged With: 75th anniversary, atomic bombs, Denise Kiernan, Ed Westcott, Explore Oak Ridge, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Historic Grove Theater, Leslie Groves, Manhattan Project, Mark Watson, Mayor’s 75th Anniversary Committee, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORHPA, uranium enrichment, Warren L. Gooch, World War II, Y-12 National Security Complex

Advertisements

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Community News

Breakfast with Legislators resumes Monday

The first Breakfast with the Legislators of this year will be Monday morning, and it will be an online meeting. The meeting, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, is scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. … [Read More...]

CASA coordinator to discuss programs to help children

Amanda Brackett A CASA coordinator will discuss programs to help children during an online meeting at noon today (Tuesday, February 16). The speaker will be Amanda Brackett, Program Coordinator for CASA (Court … [Read More...]

Little Ponderosa Zoo has memorial for James Cox on Saturday

A notice of a memorial ceremony for James Cox, founder of Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue, posted by the zoo. There will be an outdoor memorial ceremony for James Michael Cox, founder of the Little Ponderosa Zoo and … [Read More...]

James Cox, founder of Little Ponderosa Zoo, dies

James Cox (Photo via Anderson County Sheriff's Office on Facebook) James Cox, the founder of Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue in Anderson County, died Tuesday. The cause of his death wasn't clear, although the zoo … [Read More...]

First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge

First Presbyterian offers free meal, groceries on Feb. 11

First Presbyterian Church will provide a free meal and bag of groceries to food-insecure guests who drive by the church between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 11, a press release said. The church’s monthly … [Read More...]

More Community

More Government News

TVA conducting maintenance at Bull Run

The Tennessee Valley Authority's Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) The Tennessee Valley Authority is conducting routine … [Read More...]

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020

Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park

Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (File photo by John … [Read More...]

City has second public meeting on new entrance sign

Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge of a proposed sign along South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62) The City of Oak Ridge will have its second public meeting on a new sign at the city's entrance on … [Read More...]

Council to discuss fatal police shooting, Gateway Project

Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge of a proposed sign along South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62) The Oak Ridge City Council this evening will discuss a fatal police shooting in August and this … [Read More...]

Hear from ORNL scientists who worked on Perseverance mission

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mV1sYjE-zMU Video published on YouTube by Oak Ridge National Laboratory Three scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss their work this afternoon on technologies for the … [Read More...]

More Government

Recent Posts

  • ORUD announces new president, general manager
  • REAC/TS receives U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award
  • TVA conducting maintenance at Bull Run
  • Basketball: Girls, boys play for district championships
  • Natural gas rates will rise, expected to drop when prices decline
  • Lady Wildcats play in district semifinal game Friday night
  • Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park
  • City has second public meeting on new entrance sign
  • Council to discuss fatal police shooting, Gateway Project
  • Hear from ORNL scientists who worked on Perseverance mission

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today