Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Schools to host panel discussion, documentary screening for ‘Oppenheimer’

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Oak Ridge Schools will host a free, community-centered red carpet event Wednesday featuring a 90-minute panel discussion and a screening of the documentary film “Oppenheimer After Trinity.”

The panel—made up of local scientists, historians, filmmakers, and Oak Ridge students—will re-examine the conversations held over 80 years ago surrounding the splitting of the atom and discuss the development and deployment of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and their potential impact on future generations, a press release said.

The event will be held at the Oak Ridge High School Auditorium on Wednesday, July 19, from 6-8:30 p.m. and it will include free popcorn and soda for attendees. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for guests to mingle, enjoy the red carpet, and take photos, the press release said.

“As a nod to the birth of Oak Ridge, 1940s era attire is encouraged, though not required,” the release said

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History Museum to celebrate new Hutment Exhibit

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The Oak Ridge History Museum will celebrate the opening of its Hutment Exhibit with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, April 1, 2023. A hutment from the Manhattan Project during World War II is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge History Museum will celebrate the opening of its Hutment Exhibit with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, April 1.

The Hutment Exhibit “promises to transport visitors back in time to the Oak Ridge Manhattan Project era,” a press release said.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will celebrate the exhibit’s opening and “offer an unparalleled glimpse into a piece of history that shaped America,” the press release said.

The Hutment Exhibit will feature an authentic reproduction of a Manhattan Project “Hutment,” showcasing the living conditions of the workers who helped construct the wartime manufacturing facilities during World War II.

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Learn Oak Ridge history at Jackson Square on Saturday

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A historical photo of Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. (Photo credit: U.S. Department of Energy/Ed Westcott)

You can learn about Oak Ridge history at Jackson Square on Saturday.

The free program is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, January 14. It is organized by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

“Join a park ranger for a walk through Jackson Square,” the National Park Service said.

The program will begin in the upper parking lot of Jackson Square in front of the fountain.

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Oak Ridge designated World War II Heritage City

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Y-12 Calutron Girls
Women enriching uranium in calutrons at Y-12 as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. (Photo by Manhattan Project photographer Ed Westcott)

The City of Oak Ridge has been designated a World War II Heritage City, the only city in Tennessee to receive that designation.

The National Park Service has notified the city of the designation, Oak Ridge said in a press release Tuesday.

“The American World War II Heritage Cities Program honors the contributions of local towns, cities, (and) counties, and commemorates the stories of the men, women, and children whose bravery and sacrifices shaped the U.S. home front during World War II, and still impact our nation today,” the press release said. “Only one American World War II Heritage City can be designated in each state or territory. Oak Ridge played a critical role in history and has been designated Tennessee’s American World War II Heritage City through the program. ”

Oak Ridge was a key production site during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could. Among other work, Oak Ridge enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime and had the first reactor to make plutonium-239. A plutonium sample was sent to scientific facilities at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and more of that isotope, the fuel used in the second bomb, was produced at Hanford, Washington.

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Learn about secrecy, spies on Dec. 17

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

You can learn about secrecy, security, and spies during the Manhattan Project in World War II in Oak Ridge on Saturday, December 17.

This National Park Service program is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. December 17 at the Oak Ridge Turnpike gatehouse on the west end of town.

“The program is accessible to all visitors and will give insight to what life was like in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project with heightened security, need for secrecy, and worry of spies,” the NPS said in a newsletter.

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Early Oak Ridge to be discussed during NPS hike

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A photo by Ed Westcott of Cedar Hill Elementary School in Oak Ridge in 1945. (Photo credit: U.S. Department of Energy/Westcott)

Early Oak Ridge, including its school system, shopping centers, and housing, will be discussed during a hike with National Park Service rangers on Saturday, December 10.

The hike is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. December 10 at Cedar Hill Park, the former location of Cedar Hill Elementary School.

“Along the hike, we’ll discuss the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works (a name for Oak Ridge during World War II),” the NPS said.

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Pre-World War II settlements to be discussed during Saturday hike

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Canning was a part of life in agricultural East Tennessee before World War II. (Photo credit: Tennessee Valley Authority)

During a hike on Saturday, the National Park Service will discuss settlements in the area before World War II and the drastic changes to the area during the war.

The hike is scheduled on North Boundary Greenway. It will start at the East Quarry Road Trailhead at 2 p.m. Saturday, November 26.

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Luminarias to feature peace messages

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Photo credit: National Park Service/B. Burghart

Luminarias with peace messages will be lit this year to remember and acknowledge the atomic bombings of Japan in August 1945, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park said.

A luminaria is a lantern with a candle inside a small paper bag.

The peace messages will be written by the public before events in August, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park said.

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DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge

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U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo from DOE)

U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tours began running again on July 11, and they are scheduled to continue through November.

“The program is a longtime staple in the community, helping educate residents and visitors about the site’s rich history and current missions,” DOE said in an EM Update newsletter published Tuesday. (EM stands for environmental management.)

The tour program started in 1996 and has attracted tens of thousands of visitors from all 50 states, DOE said.

The three-and-a-half-hour tours allow visitors to see all three DOE sites on the Oak Ridge Reservation, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Y-12 National Security Complex, and East Tennessee Technology Park.

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Tennessee Holocaust Commission accepting student entries for 2022 contest

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Mira Kimmelman challenged students and those in her audiences to reflect upon the history of the Holocaust and contemporary examples of injustice. (Submitted photo)

“The Holocaust is a lesson in human (and inhuman) history that took place because of hate, bigotry, indifference—all characteristics that know no bounds. These traits spread like wildfire. If we remain indifferent to human suffering, it can happen again; it can happen here, and who knows who the next victims will be? Only by remembering the bitter lesson of Hitler’s legacy can we hope it will never be repeated. Teach it, tell it, read it.”—Mira Ryczke Kimmelman, “Echoes from the Holocaust”

Mira Kimmelman challenged students to reflect upon the history of the Holocaust and contemporary examples of injustice as she gave talks about her own experiences for more than 50 years, according to Larry Leibowitz, Knoxville attorney who is chair of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission.

The Mira Kimmelman “Learning from the Holocaust” Contest, established after her death in 2019, continues her legacy, a press release said. The contest invites Tennessee high school and middle school students to submit essays and projects that reflect how the lessons of the Holocaust are relevant to current events and their own lives.

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Supreme Court justice to discuss WWII POWs

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Sharon Lee

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee will discuss the compelling stories of five American soldiers captured and held as prisoners of war by the Germans during World War II during a lunchtime meeting next week, a press release said.

The Lunch with the League is scheduled from 12-1 p.m. Tuesday, February 15. The meeting will be virtual, meaning it will be online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lunch is hosted by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, and the public is welcome to attend the virtual meeting.

“Personal history led Justice Lee to her interest in World War II, specifically POWs, and how their experiences shaped their lives after release,” the press release said. “Justice Lee’s father was a World War II POW. Although Justice Lee describes her family as being very patriotic and her father faithfully flying an American flag, their family did not talk about her father’s wartime experiences when she was growing up. Her interest in World War II POWs was sparked by ‘Soldiers and Slaves,’ a book shared with her by then Chancellor Arnold Goldin from Memphis, which later led her to research and prepare a presentation entitled ‘American Heroes With Common Bonds.'”

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Hike with park ranger, learn history

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You can hike with a park ranger and learn about history on Cedar Hill Greenway this month.

“Grab your boots and jacket to join us on a hike through the Secret City,” a press release said. “Manhattan Project National Historical Park will be hosting a hike with a ranger along the Cedar Hill Greenway in Oak
Ridge.”

The hike will start at 10 a.m. Saturday, February 26. The 2.5-mile moderate hike will begin at Cedar Hill Park, the former location of Cedar Hill Elementary School.

“Park rangers will be discussing the early school system of Oak Ridge as well as the shopping centers and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works,” the press release said.

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