Oak Ridge Today

Tennessee tourism official to discuss Civil War Trail Marker program

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Lee Curtis

Lee Curtis

A Tennessee tourism official will be the featured speaker at a Thursday night meeting of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association.

Lee Curtis is program development director of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, where she has worked since 1990, a press release said.

It said Curtis’ responsibilities include overseeing and developing the Tennessee Civil War Trails program and serving as the department’s heritage tourism contact. On Thursday, she will discuss the Civil War Trail Marker program in Oak Ridge, the press release said. [Read more…]

City historian to discuss last eight days of World War II

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Bill Wilcox and Clifton Truman Daniel

Oak Ridge City Historian Bill Wilcox, left, with Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of President Harry S. Truman, who made the decision to use atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War II. Wilcox helped Daniel with background information for his new book on the decision to use the bombs. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge City Historian Bill Wilcox will discuss the last eight days of World War II during a presentation next week.

It starts at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at the Wildcat Den at the Midtown Community Center.

“Most Oak Ridgers know the story of Oak Ridge’s founding in 1942 as part of the Manhattan Project and about how the uranium 235 for the world’s first atomic bomb used in warfare, ‘Little Boy,’ helped end World War II,” said a press release from the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. “Helped is correct. The two atomic bombs really did help, but even after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was no agreement in Japan’s ruling circle on surrender.” [Read more…]

Teachers admitted free to Thursday lecture on World War II bombing decision

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Clifton Truman Daniel

Clifton Truman Daniel

The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association is hosting journalist Clifton Truman Daniel, oldest grandson of former U.S. President Harry S. Truman, at a special speaking engagement at 7 p.m. Thursday at the New Hope Center.

Tickets to the lecture are $20, but the ORHPA is providing complimentary tickets to school teachers and their families, a press release said. [Read more…]

President Truman’s grandson to discuss decision to bomb Japan in World War II

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Clifton Truman Daniel

Clifton Truman Daniel

In a speech later this month, the oldest grandson of former president Harry S. Truman will discuss his grandfather’s decision to use the world’s first atomic weapons at the end of World War II, a momentous decision that depended, at least in part, on work done in Oak Ridge.

Clifton Truman Daniel will also share insights about his grandfather’s life after Truman left the White House, and Daniel will discuss a family trip to Japan in 2012 for the 67th anniversary of the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Daniel will be in Oak Ridge on Thursday, March 28. His speech is hosted by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s open to the public, and tickets are $20.

[Read more…]

‘Girls of Atomic City’ author will be at March 19 lecture, book signing

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Denise Kiernan

Denise Kiernan

A March 19 community lecture will feature an author who has written about Oak Ridge women and the second world war.

Denise Kiernan is author of “The Girls of the Atomic City—the Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II.”

She will be the featured speaker during the Tuesday, March 19, lecture, which starts at 6 p.m. at the American Museum of Science and Energy. It’s part of the 16th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.

[Read more…]

DOE manager discusses Oak Ridge Reservation at Jan. 10 meeting

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Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office, will be the featured speaker on Thursday, Jan. 10, at a joint meeting of two local nonprofit organizations. His speech is titled “Managing resources on the Oak Ridge Reservation in a changing environment.”

The talk is sponsored by Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation and the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It starts at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Midtown Community Center Wildcat Den, and it is open to the public.

[Read more…]

ORCVB releases heritage tour guide

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Oak Ridge Heritage Tour Guide

Oak Ridge Heritage Tour Guide

The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau has released a new 35-page, pocket-sized printed tour guide about the Secret City. The guide contains a detailed driving tour of heritage sites within the community, along with numerous facts and historic photographs of Oak Ridge from the WWII era. The guide also includes various other information about the city’s tourism attractions and hotels.

“Oak Ridge played such a pivotal role in world affairs. People visit our Welcome Center and want to know what to see and visit. The tour guide will give them a better understanding of the historic WWII sites within our city and an introduction to our attractions and hotels that they can take with them,” said Katy Brown, ORCVB president. “We are very excited to provide this guide for our visitors.”

[Read more…]

Author discusses Tennessee tragedies on July 12

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Troop train wreck-1944

This image is a famous Ed Westcott photo of the July 6, 1944 Troop Train Wreck at High Cliff near Jellico. This is one of the stories that will be discussed.

Author Allen R. Coggins will discuss Tennessee tragedies in the last 250 years during a July 12 Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association meeting. The public is invited, and the meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Midtown Community Center.

Coggins is the author of Place Names of the Smokies and has recently published Tennessee Tragedies: Grim Reapings of Our Past, which is the first compilation of historical disasters for any state, according to a press release.

[Read more…]

Historic preservationists tour Freels Bend Cabin

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ORHPA at Freels Bend Cabin

Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association member D. Ray Smith, left, starts a Thursday evening tour of Freels Bend Cabin, the oldest structure in Oak Ridge.

Built in 1844, the Freels Bend Cabin is the oldest structure in Oak Ridge, and Ruby Shanks lived there for a few years in the 1940s, when she was a teenager.

“It was a beautiful place,” Shanks told historic preservationists during a meeting at the cabin in south Oak Ridge last week. “We loved it.”

The unusual setting for last week’s Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association meeting gave about 60 people a rare opportunity to see the cabin, which is on restricted U.S. Department of Energy land.

[Read more…]

A chance to see Freels Bend Cabin, city’s oldest structure

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Freels Bend Cabin

A nonprofit organization will have its monthly meeting at the Freels Bend Cabin on Thursday, a rare opportunity to see the oldest structure in Oak Ridge.

The regular monthly meeting of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association is not unusual, but the location this week is.

The ORHPA will meet Thursday at Freels Bend Cabin, providing a rare opportunity to see the oldest structure in Oak Ridge.

Built in 1844, the cabin is on U.S. Department of Energy land, and access to it is normally restricted.

[Read more…]