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McDaniel completes Oak Ridge oral history project

Posted at 2:07 pm July 15, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Entertainment, Front Page News, Government, History, History, Movies, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic weapons, Carson Newman University, Center for Oak Ridge Oral History, film, Keith McDaniel, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Public Library, oral histories, oral history, Ray Smith, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II

Center for Oak Ridge Oral History seeks new interviews

Posted at 9:39 am August 30, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Public Library

The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.

The Oak Ridge Public Library is seeking new interviews as part of the Center for Oak Ridge Oral History project. More than 800 oral history entries have already been logged, but additional stories are needed from those who experienced Oak Ridge as children.

COROH’s main focus has been the Manhattan Project era of Oak Ridge’s history, from late 1942 to the end of World War II in August 1945. Interviewees are asked about what it was like to live in the “Secret City.” As the project continues, staff and volunteers will be looking to the second generation of Oak Ridgers in order to record their memories as well. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Government, Museums, Oak Ridge Tagged With: Center for Oak Ridge Oral History, interviews, Jordan Reed, Julie Forkner, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Public Library, oral history, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II

Guest column: Explosive interest in ‘Manhattan’

Posted at 6:09 pm August 29, 2014
By Atomic Heritage Foundation 2 Comments

Cynthia C. Kelly

Cynthia C. Kelly

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The WGN America television show “Manhattan” has galvanized the interest of millions of viewers. Shown on Sunday nights, national audiences are riveted by the dramatic tension between rival groups of scientists and the omnipresent security police in Los Alamos in 1943. “Manhattan” follows the scientists as they confront the challenges of making a workable atomic bomb while dealing with an intrusive military force, intense rivalries, and strained marital relations where couples can no longer confide in each other.

The show is a blend of fact and fiction. The primary characters are entirely fictional including the main scientist, Frank Winter; Chinese-American physicist, Sidney Liao; and wunderkind Charlie Isaacs and his most attractive wife, Abby. But “Manhattan” has preserved at least two real persona, J. Robert Oppenheimer as the director of Los Alamos, and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr who visits the laboratory to offer his advice.

The central tension is the race to develop two different approaches to a plutonium-based bomb. Winter believes an implosion bomb offers the best option but most of the scientists—including Oppenheimer—are more confident in a gun-type plutonium bomb similar to the design used for the uranium-based bomb. While the enmity between the two groups is exaggerated for television, “Manhattan” does a good job showing the challenges the scientists and engineers faced knowing little about the newly discovered and quite bizarre element plutonium.

In a 1965 interview with journalist Stephane Groueff, J. Robert Oppenheimer recalled: “I think the set of problems connected with implosion was the most difficult, and it required very new experimental techniques. It was not a branch of physics anyone was very familiar with. It was, from a theoretical, an observational, and a practical point of view, quite an adventure. Plutonium was a terrible test from beginning to end and never stayed quiet: it gets hot, it is radioactive, you cannot touch it, you have to coat it, and the coating always peels. It is just a terrible substance.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Entertainment, Guest Columns, Opinion, Television, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic bomb, Atomic Heritage Foundation, bomb, Charlie Isaacs, Congress, Frank Winter, Germany, Hanford, implosion bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leona Marshall Libby, Los Alamos, Manhattan, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service, Niels Bohr, Nobel Prize, Oak Ridge, oral history, plutonium, plutonium bomb, scientists, security police, Sidney Liao, television show, uranium-based bomb, Voices of the Manhattan Project, WGN America

Manhattan Project website launches

Posted at 12:03 am June 28, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Atomic Heritage Foundation Manhattan Project Website

Submitted

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With prospects for a Manhattan Project National Historical Park this year looking good, the Atomic Heritage Foundation is launching a timely new website for prospective visitors to the Manhattan Project communities at www.atomicheritage.org. The new park is expected to generate 500,000 or more tourists to Oak Ridge; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford, Washington, during the next decade. As a preview of coming attractions, visitors can take a virtual tour now and immerse themselves in the Manhattan Project online.

With colorful photographs, an interactive timeline, extensive articles on Manhattan Project history, and oral histories of hundreds of Manhattan Project veterans, the new website will be an excellent resource. One feature is the powerful new interpretive tool called “Ranger in Your Pocket.” Based on a BYOD or “Bring Your Own Device” strategy, this technology-based tool represents a fundamental shift in engaging visitors by empowering them to use their personal smartphones or tablets to create their own tour experience. The first “Ranger in Your Pocket” tour is to the historic B Reactor at Hanford. Additional tours under construction will feature Los Alamos and Oak Ridge and draw from AHF’s extensive oral history collection as well as documentary footage and photographs. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, East Tennessee Technology Park, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: AHF, atomic bomb, Atomic Heritage Foundation, Atomic Timeline, B Reactor, Cold War, Hanford, history, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, nuclear history, Oak Ridge, oral history, photographs, Ranger in Your Pocket, tourists, veterans, website, World War II

Secret City Festival features something for everyone

Posted at 1:51 pm June 8, 2014
By Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau Leave a Comment

Secret City Festival Crowd June 2012

A large crowd waits to hear music during the June 2012 festival.

 

Make plans to attend the 12th Annual Secret City Festival on Friday, June 13, and Saturday, June 14, in historic Oak Ridge. Join more than 20,000 visitors and residents to celebrate the end of World War II and the heritage of Oak Ridge from 1945 to the present.

Here’s an overview of some of the many activities and events taking place at this year’s festival: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Arts, Community, Community, Entertainment, Music, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: American Museum of Science and Energy, AMSE, antiques, arts and crafts, Arts Council of Oak Ridge, Bill Capshaw, bus tours, Children's Festival Area, City of Oak Ridge, Clinton Region AACA, concert, Eddie Money, food vendors, Graphite Reactor, heritage, history, Jada Blade, Kix Brooks, living history, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Civic Center, Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, oral history, ORHPA, Phoenix Drive, Salute to Soldiers, Secret City Cruise-in Car Show, Secret City Festival, Secret City Scenic Excursion Train, TN Creates, Toddler's Area, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II, Y-12 National Security Complex

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

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