Oak Ridge Today

Celebration of life in April for John Rice Irwin

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John Rice Irwin, founder of the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, plays the mandolin in this photo by Linda Gunderson.

A celebration of the life of museum founder John Rice Irwin will be held in April at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris. The celebration of life is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24.

Irwin was a cultural historian and founder of the Museum of Appalachia, among other notable achievements.

Irwin died Sunday, January 16, in Clinton. He was 91.

He was born on December 11, 1930, in Union County, Tennessee.

“While Irwin was still a toddler, his family was forced to move from their farm to make way for the flooding of Norris Lake and the construction of Norris Dam,” his obituary said. “They first settled in Robertsville (in Oak Ridge), but the Manhattan Project forced them to move yet again, this time to the Bethel Community.”

Irwin’s obituary said he was captivated by the rich cultural history of East Tennessee and its people for as long as he could remember.

“As a young boy, he would sit at the feet of his grandmother, Ibbie Jane Rice, and grandfather, Marcellus Moss ‘Sill’ Rice, and listen intently to their stories of the past,” the obituary said. “Sill took notice of his grandson’s fascination and said to him, ‘you ought to keep the old-timey things that belonged to our people and start you a little museum sometime.’ It was this advice that would ultimately inspire Irwin to create the Museum of Appalachia.”

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Manhattan Project Park will commemorate atomic bomb effects

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The International Friendship Bell is pictured above in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will ring the International Friendship Bell 76 times on Friday morning, August 6, to commemorate the effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 76 years ago.

The bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945. It was the first atomic bomb used in war and the first of two dropped on Japan near the end of World War II. Uranium for the first bomb, which was code-named “Little Boy,” was enriched in Oak Ridge. The bomb had about 140 pounds of uranium fuel and had an explosive force equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, according to Atomic Heritage. Between 90,000 and 166,000 people are believed to have died from the 10-foot, 9,700-pound bomb in the four-month period following the explosion, Atomic Heritage said.

The National Park Service is calling the August 6 ceremony “Days of Peace and Remembrance.”

“During this silent event, we will be requesting visitors to come up and ring the bell,” a press release said. “Visitors will be able to write down their own hopes and messages of peace.”

The United States dropped a second atomic bomb, a plutonium-fueled weapon, on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945, three days after the Hiroshima bombing. It had about 13.6 pounds of plutonium fuel and an explosive force equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT. About 80,000 Japanese died by the end of 1945 because of that bomb, which was called “Fat Man,” Atomic Heritage said.

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Manhattan Project: Hike, learn about early schools, shopping, housing

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You can learn about the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works during a National Park Service hike on Saturday.

The hike is along the Cedar Hill Greenway. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 17. It will be led by a National Park Service ranger.

The hike will begin at Cedar Hill Park, the former location of Cedar Hill Elementary School, a press release said.

“Along the hike, rangers will discuss the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works,” the release said. This will be a moderately difficult 2.5-mile hike.

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Manhattan Project: Paddle with a ranger, visit Freels Bend Cabin

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Paddle with a ranger on the Clinch River in Oak Ridge on Thursday evening, July 8, 2021. (Photo submitted by National Park Service)

You can paddle back in time to visit the historic Freels Bend Cabin and enjoy the beauty of the Clinch River this evening (Thursday, July 8) in Oak Ridge, a press release said.

Participants will learn more about the Manhattan Project as well as its impact on Oak Ridge and the surrounding areas, the press release said. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. Oak Ridge was part of the project. Only a few pre-war structures remain in the city, including Freels Bend Cabin.

“Together, we will visit the cabin, which was built and then remodeled during the 1800s by the Freels family of Anderson County,” said the press release from the National Park Service. “It has maintained its historical significance all these years and now resides on Department of Energy property.”

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Y-12 donates $8,500 for Scarboro graduates, honoring Oak Ridge 85

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Dorothy Kirk Lewis and L.C. Gipson, members of the Oak Ridge 85, hold the check representing the $8,500 donation from Consolidated Nuclear Security given in their honor. (Photo courtesy CNS/Y-12)

At the conclusion of a school year during which Oak Ridge commemorated the 65th anniversary of the integration of Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High, the Scarboro Alumni Association received an $8,500 donation for their scholarship endowment.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, the managing and operating contractor of Y-12 National Security Complex made the donation at the Scarboro Community Center on May 26 in honor of the 85 Black students who integrated Oak Ridge schools in 1955, a press release said. The endowment provides scholarships to selected high school seniors who have an association with the Scarboro community and who choose to continue their education.

Little-known history

The Oak Ridge 85, as they are known, consisted of 85 students who integrated Robertsville Junior High and Oak Ridge High School on September 6, 1955. They were the first students to integrate a public school in the southeastern United States, the press release said.

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Manhattan Project Park has tennis court dance on June 25

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Oak Ridge Tennis Court Dance NPS
This undated photo shows a tennis court dance in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will commemorate the tennis court dances that occurred in Jackson Square more than 75 years ago with a dance on Friday, June 25.

The dance is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. June 25 in the Jackson Square tennis courts. It has been organized by the National Park Service and Explore Oak Ridge.

“All ages are welcome to attend, and everyone is encouraged to participate,” a press release said. “This free event will feature swing dancing music from the 1940s World War II era as well as hits from every decade since then, including current music, so that all age groups will find something to tap their toes to. Music was chosen with the help of local Oak Ridge High School students and will make you want to get on the dance floor.”

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Learn about Wheat, a community before the war, during Saturday walk

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

You can learn about Wheat, a community before World War II, during a walk in west Oak Ridge on Saturday.

The walk will be led by a National Park Service ranger starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 5. The program will begin at Blair Road and the North Boundary Greenway.

Wheat was a community that existed in what is now west Oak Ridge before the city was built as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. That was a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could.

Oak Ridge is one of three sites that are part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The other two are Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

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Manhattan Project Park re-opens

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The National Park Service visitor center is pictured above at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The visitor center for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge re-opened on Tuesday.

The visitor center had been shut down for many months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The visitor center is at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge on West Outer Drive. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

Oak Ridge is one of three sites that are part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The other two are Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. All three were part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. That was a federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs, before Germany could. The park tells the story of the workers and their missions during and after the war.

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Ernestine Avery, one of 85 students to integrate Oak Ridge Schools, to speak this evening

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Ernestine Avery

A presentation in Oak Ridge this evening will feature Ernestine Avery, one of the 85 African American students who integrated Oak Ridge Schools in 1955, a press release said.

Avery was one of the 85 students who had attended Scarboro schools before integrating Oak Ridge Schools in 1955.

The presentation will begin on Zoom at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 27. This will be during the monthly general meeting of the Oak Ridge-Anderson County NAACP Branch, the press release said.

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National Park Service asks for public comments about Manhattan Project Park

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An undated aerial photo posted online by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management shows the former K-25 Building, once the world’s largest building, in west Oak Ridge. The building has been demolished, but its history is being preserved, including at the new K-25 History Center.

The National Park Service is asking for public comments about the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The comments are being sought as the Park Service prepares an interpretive plan for park programming, exhibits, and media, a press release said. The goal is to capture many different experiences and perspectives.

Discussions with the public are being organized by theme and region. The discussions focused on regions concentrate on the areas around the three Manhattan Project park locations: Hanford, Washington; Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Because of COVID-19, all events will be held virtually (online), the press release said.

The public meetings are Tuesday to Thursday this week. Here is the schedule:

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Virtual talks on Weinberg and his archived papers on Apr. 20

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Alvin Weinberg, front center, with Senator John F. Kennedy, front left, at an Oak Ridge National Laboratory research reactor. (Submitted photo)


“A Tribute to Alvin Weinberg,” including information on the new online database of his scientific publications and other documents, will be presented virtually to the public from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 20 (Weinberg’s birth anniversary).

The presentation, via Zoom, is sponsored by the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge and Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“The purpose of this public online event is to honor Alvin Weinberg’s legacy and to celebrate the preservation and digitization of his papers,” said Rhonda Bogard, who led the digitization of the papers, most of which were initially donated to the Children’s Museum in 1986. [Read more…]

City interested in historic preservation grant

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The City of Oak Ridge is pursuing a historic preservation grant that could be used to study priority historic areas and focus on preservation, the removal of blight, and the expansion of the tax base.

If awarded, the grant from the Tennessee Historical Commission could be worth up to $15,000. It would require a 40 percent local match.

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider accepting the grant, if it is awarded, during its regular meeting on Monday.

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