Oak Ridge Today





McDaniel completes Oak Ridge oral history project

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Keith McDaniel interviews Oak Ridge Historian Ray Smith at the Oak Ridge History Museum for the Center for Oak Ridge Oral History. (Submitted photo)

Filmmaker Keith McDaniel has completed a nine-year project to document the oral histories of about 400 current and former Oak Ridge residents, including those connected to the Manhattan Project during World War II.

The life stories were used to build a digital collection for the Oak Ridge Public Library’s Center for Oak Ridge Oral History, or COROH. McDaniel was part of the group that made plans for the COROH and, following the city’s receipt of an annual grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, took the contract for the documentary work.

“A lot of original Oak Ridgers were dying and getting older,” McDaniel said in a press release from Carson-Newman University. “We felt it was really important to collect their memories, to collect their stories.”

The one-on-one filmed interviews gave those connected to the Manhattan Project, and later to the city at large, the opportunity to share their life stories, the press release said.

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Learn more about Wheat during walk with ranger

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The Wheat community before the Manhattan Project during World War II in the area around what is now west Oak Ridge. (Photo submitted by National Park Service)

You can learn more about Wheat, a community that was here before the Manhattan Project, during a walk with a National Park Service ranger on Saturday, July 27.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will present the ranger-led walk starting at 10 a.m. July 27. The program is free, and it will start at Blair Road and the North Boundary Greenway.

“The walk will be about one-and-one-half miles, so wear comfortable walking shoes and bring water to drink,” a press release said. “Stops will include ‘downtown’ Wheat, George Jones Memorial Baptist Church, Roane College site, and the Crawford Cumberland Presbyterian Memorial. There will be stories about the development and significance of each site.”

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Learn more about ‘Secret City,’ Manhattan Project during bus tours in August

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The X-10 Graphite Reactor with workers. (U.S. Department of Energy)

Two new bus tours offered in Oak Ridge in August will allow you to learn more about the unique heritage of the Manhattan Project, a press release said. The bus tours are the “Secret City” and “Oak Ridge Museums” tours.

The “Secret City” tour will be led by a National Park Service ranger, last three hours, and include that day’s admission to the American Museum of Science and Energy.

“During the Manhattan Project, a community was created almost overnight to accomplish the monumental task of producing enriched uranium on a large scale,” the press release said. “During the tour, visitors can develop an understanding of what life was like during World War II in a city behind a fence that no one was supposed to discuss. The tour will also include a visit to the X-10 Graphite Reactor, a National Historic Landmark, and the world’s first nuclear reactor designed and built for continuous operation.”

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Learn about secrecy, security, spies on July 20

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The Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse is pictured above on the west end of town. (Submitted photo)

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will present a program about secrecy, security, and spies on Saturday, July 20. The program is scheduled from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at the Turnpike Gatehouse in Oak Ridge.

“The program will give visitors some insight to what life was like in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project with all the security, the need for secrecy, and the worry of spies,” a press release said. “This program is free and open to the public; parking is limited, so please try to carpool if possible.”

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‘Secret is Out: Discover Oak Ridge’ activity book for sale with proceeds benefitting ADFAC

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Left to right, ADFAC Committee member Ray Smith is joined by Barbara Ferrell, The Ferrell Shop; Denise Parten, Southern Bliss; Annie Cacheiro, ADFAC executive director; Becky Hook, ADFAC school supply coordinator and activity book chair; and Jim Dodson, ADFAC board of directors and committee member. (Photo courtesy ADFAC)

Looking for a great summer activity for your family or perhaps visiting relatives? ADFAC (Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties) has the answer, a press release said.

“The Secret is Out: Discover Oak Ridge” is an activity book designed to present the history of Oak Ridge through pictures and activities for children ages 5-13, the press release said. Art work, poems, puzzles, and short stories created by students from Oak Ridge schools were submitted for publication. Area adult artists and photographers also donated their services to benefit ADFAC.

Developed in conjunction with ADFAC’s 30th anniversary and Oak Ridge’s 75th anniversary, “The Secret is Out: Discover Oak Ridge” gives a pictorial history of the city and includes organizations of interest to children. Graphic designer Ariana Rector created the cover, which highlights Oak Ridge’s historically significant accomplishments in a timeline from black and white to color, the press release said. She is also credited with illustrating many of the coloring pages and compiling the submitted works. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project: Walk with a ranger, learn more about Wheat

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The former Wheat community in what is now west Oak Ridge (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

You can join a National Park Service park ranger for a ranger-led walk through the pre-Manhattan Project community of Wheat on Wednesday, June 19. The former community was in what is now west Oak Ridge.

The free program on June 19 is presented by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at Blair Road and the North Boundary Greenway. The walk will be about 1.5 miles, so wear comfortable walking shoes and bring water to drink, a press release said. Stops will include “downtown” Wheat, George Jones Memorial Baptist Church, Roane College site, and the Crawford Cumberland Presbyterian Memorial. There will be stories about the development and significance of each site, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Manhattan Project: Ride with a ranger on North Boundary Greenway on Saturday

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You can join a National Park Service park ranger for a bike ride on the North Boundary Greenway on Saturday, May 25, 2019, to see how the former communities of the area have changed during the past 75 years. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

You can join a National Park Service park ranger for a bike ride on the North Boundary Greenway on Saturday to see how the former communities of the area have changed during the past 75 years.

It’s a free program presented by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The bike ride will start at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Turnpike Gatehouse and travel down Big Oak Trail and North Boundary Road, a press release said.

“Along the ride, we will explore the former communities that were here before the Manhattan Project,” the press release said. “Rangers will stop several times along the bike ride to point out the rich history that is found within the Oak Ridge area.”

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Learn about civil rights movement in lecture by Booker at Roane State

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Robert Booker

Robert J. Booker, local civil rights historian and Knoxville News Sentinel columnist, will present a talk titled “100 Years of the Civil Rights Movement” on Thursday, May 23, at 3 p.m. in the City Room at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge.

A Knoxville native, Booker is a graduate of Knoxville College, where he initiated and led the Sit-in Movement to desegregate lunch counters and movie theaters in Knoxville, a press release said. He was the first African American representing Knox County to be elected to the state legislature, where he served three terms, the press release said. He was administrative assistant to the Knoxville mayor for seven years and was executive director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center for 17 years. He has also held positions on the State Civil Service Commission and the Tennessee Committee on Humanities. [Read more…]

K-25 Visitors Center grand re-opening is Monday

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Image from Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association

There will be a grand re-opening celebration for the K-25 Visitors Center and Overlook in west Oak Ridge on Monday afternoon, according to the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association.

It’s a kick-off party for National Travel and Tourism Week. There will be food trucks, live music, interactive exhibits, and more, the ORHPA said.

The celebration is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. Monday, May 6, at 2013 Highway 58.

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Holocaust Remembrance Program this Sunday

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Holocaust Remembrance Program 2018 Proclamation Reading (Submitted photo)

Holocaust Remembrance Day: The City of Oak Ridge has proclaimed May 5 to be Holocaust Remembrance Day for 2019.

The Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge (JCOR) and the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church (ORUUC) have partnered together to present the annual Holocaust Remembrance Program, a press release said. It will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the JCOR Sanctuary, 101 West Madison Lane in Oak Ridge, on May 5. There will be a candle lighting ceremony, songs, readings, and prayers. The Holocaust Remembrance Service is sponsored by the Oak Ridge Interfaith Partnership, and the public is encouraged to attend, the press release said. [Read more…]

Atomic Heritage Foundation launches “Oak Ridge Innovations” program

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“Nuclear medicine, nuclear energy, nuclear weapons. All of that goes back to Oak Ridge,” explains Denise Kiernan, bestselling author of “The Girls of Atomic City.” Oak Ridge, Tennessee has been a center for nuclear research since General Leslie Groves selected it as the Manhattan Project’s uranium enrichment site in 1942. Today, Oak Ridge is the home of many leading scientific and engineering research facilities, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Atomic Heritage Foundation has launched a new online interpretive program, “Oak Ridge Innovations,” to explore Oak Ridge’s legacies for science and society today. Available on AHF’s “Ranger in Your Pocket” website, “Oak Ridge Innovations” includes more than 30 video vignettes describing ORNL’s history and current research in fields such as energy, particle physics, computer science, and medicine, a press release said. The program was developed in partnership with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers East Tennessee Section and funded by the IEEE Foundation. Featuring perspectives from current ORNL scientists and Manhattan Project veterans, the program illuminates Oak Ridge’s history and how the laboratory responds to some of today’s biggest challenges, the press release said.

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Obituary: Mira Ryczke Kimmelman, Holocaust survivor

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Mira Ryczke Kimmelman

Mira Ryczke Kimmelman, 95, of 969 West Outer Drive, died peacefully at home at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17.

Mira’s long and purposeful life was dotted with tragic events and redeeming joys. She was born on September 17, 1923, in the seaside resort of Zoppot, a suburb of the free City of Danzig. Her father Moritz was a grain merchant and her mother Eugenia dedicated herself to raising Mira and her younger brother Benno.

This happy life came to an abrupt end in 1939 when the Nazis invaded Danzig and drove Mira and her family from their home, first to ghettos in Warsaw and Tomaszow Mazowiecki, then to concentration camps Blizyn-Majdanek and Auschwitz, and thereafter on a horrific death march to Bergen-Belsen, where Mira was liberated and reunited with her father. Sadly, her mother and brother did not survive the Holocaust.

In 1946, she met another survivor, Max Kimmelman, who had lost his wife and daughter in the Holocaust. They married on May 19, 1946, in Germany. With the assistance of family in Cincinnati, Ohio, they were able to immigrate to the United States and arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 2, 1948.

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