A retired Oak Ridge school teacher and historian will discuss the women who lived in this part of East Tennessee before Oak Ridge was built during World War II.

Eugene Pickel will also pay tribute to retired Oak Ridge teacher Catherine Ledgerwood during his talk to the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association on Thursday.

“Women are more equal today than ever in history,” Pickel said in a press release. “I thought I would describe women generally as they were in our area—Kingston, Clinton, Oliver Springs—before Oak Ridge was created. Then I thought I would go to Catherine Ledgerwood—the most creative change agent I have ever known. Her impact on young people was, and still is, remarkable!”

Oak Ridge was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal project to make the world’s first atomic weapons. The Manhattan Project production site that became Oak Ridge displaced century-old family farms and small crossroads communities: Scarborough, Wheat, Robertsville, and Elza. (Some have historical markers.)

The Thursday night ORHPA meeting starts at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 13, at the Midtown Community Center at 102 Robertsville Road in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]