Oak Ridge Today

The legacy of Bill Wilcox lives on at K-25 History Center

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Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian, announces a book published posthumously that was written by Bill Wilcox, a former city historian, former technical director at K-25 and Y-12, and a passionate advocate for historic preservation, including the history of the former K-25 site. Smith announced the book at a ceremony unveiling plans for a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at the the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian, announces a book published posthumously that was written by Bill Wilcox, a former city historian, former technical director at K-25 and Y-12, and a passionate advocate for historic preservation, including of the former K-25 site. Smith announced the book at a ceremony unveiling plans for a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at K-25, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

He was a passionate advocate for preserving Oak Ridge’s history.

He was known for his bow ties and captivating storytelling. He once led the effort to save the former K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge, or at least part of it.

Now the legacy of Bill Wilcox will live on at the K-25 History Center.

Construction on the history center could start early next year on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number Four. That fire station, previously transferred to the city, is on the south side of the former K-25 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

Officials preparing for the construction of the history center gave tours of its future home at the fire station on Thursday. The tours followed a lunchtime celebration that featured tributes to Wilcox and included speeches and presentations by U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge officials, and federal contractors and historic preservation advocates. Wilcox was hailed as the “father of K-25 historic preservation.”

“He would have been really proud,” said Ray Smith, Wilcox’s friend and Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian. “His legacy lives on.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge’s 75th anniversary: Fire prevention celebration includes parade Saturday

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Map courtesy City of Oak Ridge

Map courtesy City of Oak Ridge

 

A fire prevention celebration on Saturday will include a parade as part of Oak Ridge’s 75th anniversary celebration.

The celebration will kick off with a “Then and Now”-themed parade that will start at Oak Ridge Fire Department Fire Station Number 3 on Tuskegee Drive and end at Alvin K. Bissell Park. Lineup for participants begins at 9 a.m., with the parade getting underway at 10 a.m.

The city that is now Oak Ridge was built as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. Among other things, uranium enriched at Y-12 fueled the first atomic bomb used in wartime. Code-named “Little Boy,” it was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the end of the war. [Read more…]

Tennessee State Museum will have fall bus excursion to Oak Ridge

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The Oak Ridge History Room (Image courtesy American Museum of Science and Energy)

The Oak Ridge History Room (Image courtesy American Museum of Science and Energy)

 

The Tennessee State Museum will have its fall bus excursion to Oak Ridge on Saturday, November 4. It will be a one-day guided trip to the former “Secret City,” a press release said.

“Local historian Ray Smith will join the bus in Oak Ridge and accompany the group on its stops at the American Museum of Science and Energy, the Y-12 History Center, as well as drive by other locations,” the press release said. “Don’t miss this chance to see the museum before it closes at the end of the year and moves to a new, smaller location.”

Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians, the area that is now Oak Ridge was created when the U.S. government started buying up more than 50,000 acres of land for one of three major sites for the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal project to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. (Besides Oak Ridge, the other two major sites were Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.)

“Even Governor Prentice Cooper didn’t initially know what was going on as he complained about 1,000 Tennessee families losing their homes,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge could set up committee to celebrate its 75th anniversary

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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. The 75th anniversary of the city that became Oak Ridge and still includes Y-12 is Sept. 19, 2017. (Photo by Ed Westcott)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider setting up a committee to celebrate the city’s 75th anniversary.

Oak Ridge’s birthday has been recognized on September 19. That’s because the city that is now Oak Ridge was picked for the top-secret Manhattan Project on September 19, 1942, almost 75 years ago. That was the day that General Leslie Groves approved the acquisition of 59,000 acres of land along the Clinch River for what soon became the Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs, before Germany could. Oak Ridge was then 90 square miles of East Tennessee farmland. It was the first site for Manhattan Project facilities.

By the time President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the Manhattan Project on December 28, 1942, work on the East Tennessee site where the first production facilities were to be built was already under way.

Oak Ridge became the home of two uranium enrichment plants (K-25 and Y-12), a liquid thermal diffusion plant (S-50), and a pilot plutonium production reactor (X-10 Graphite Reactor). Groves approved Oak Ridge as the site for the pilot plutonium plant and the uranium enrichment plant in 1942. Manhattan Project engineers had to quickly build a town to accommodate 30,000 workers—as well as build the enormously complex plants. [Read more…]

Ray Smith selected to serve on Tennessee Historical Commission

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D. Ray Smith (Submitted photo)

D. Ray Smith (Submitted photo)

 

Ray Smith, historian for the City of Oak Ridge and the Y-12 National Security Complex, has been selected to serve on the Tennessee Historical Commission, a press release said.

It’s the first time an Oak Ridger has been selected to serve on the Tennessee Historical Commission, the press release said.

There are 20 members from across the state, and a balanced mix of members is maintained to best represent the entire state on the commission, the release said.

It said Oak Ridge contributes to the State of Tennessee in a number of significant ways, including economic development and heritage and science tourism. [Read more…]

Learn about the construction of Oak Ridge through Westcott photos

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Ed Westcott and Ray Smith

Ed Westcott, right, was the only official photographer in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project in World War II, a top-secret project to build the world’s first atomic bomb. Westcott is pictured above with D. Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and newspaper history columnist. (Photo courtesy D. Ray Smith)

 

A Tuesday program will focus on the construction of the city that is now Oak Ridge through Ed Westcott photographs.

The program is titled “The Building of the Atomic City—the Ed Wescott Photographs.” It will be presented by Emily Hunnicutt, Ed Westcott’s daughter, and Don Hunnicutt, Westcott’s son-in-law.

Westcott was the official photographer for the federal government in the city, which was once known as Clinton Engineer Works, during World War II. Oak Ridge was built as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a program to build the world’s first atomic bombs, before Germany could.

The Tuesday program is at noon at the University of Tennessee Resource Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. It includes a lunch, and it’s sponsored by Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, or FORNL. This meeting is open to the public. [Read more…]

New International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion plans to be unveiled Thursday

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Friendship Bell

Friendship Bell (Submitted photo)

 

The community is invited to view striking new plans for the International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion and to learn of its new location in Bissell Park at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, November 17, at Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ Pollard Auditorium, which is at 1000 ORAU Way.

The International Friendship Bell Advisory Committee will host the community gathering to unveil the Peace Pavilion and plaza design for the bell’s new location in Bissell Park. The bell, an Oak Ridge icon now sitting in silence, will bring its message of peace to the tens of thousands of visitors expected to visit the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a press release said. Next steps are being taken to position the bell to ring again.

Ziad Demian, architect who designed the new Peace Pavilion and its surrounding plaza, will bring to life, in images and narrative, the real and symbolic importance of the bell that has become an important icon of Oak Ridge. The new pavilion will immediately become a community landmark and contribute to Bissell Park’s “sense of place,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Letter: Dodson an active, natural leader who has experience working with all ages

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To the Editor:

It is with pleasure that I recommend to you Jim Dodson for Oak Ridge City Council. Jim is an active leader in our community in several different ways, from his involvement in United Way to the Arts Council of Oak Ridge, and he has just become a member of the Board of Directors of Aid for Distressed Families in Appalachian Counties.

In each of these organizations, Jim serves as a natural leader. His relationship with the arts community extends beyond Oak Ridge to include Knoxville and Nashville. In all areas where he is active, he is well respected not only for his creative thinking, but for his excellent leadership ability.

He stays in touch with students through being a teacher at Jefferson Middle School. This connects him with a portion of the younger generation (now known as Generation Z—born since 1995, which makes up 25 percent of our population, more than Baby Boomers and even more than Millennials!).

I believe these younger generations are the future of Oak Ridge. Those of us who are Baby Boomers (born in 1946-1964) are retired or nearing retirement. [Read more…]

Help local families through Dine & Donate on Monday, August 8

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Burchfield's and Ray and Fanny Smith

ADFAC board member Ray Smith, along with his wife Fanny, enjoy a meal at Burchfield’s, located inside Doubletree Hotel in Oak Ridge. Burchfield’s is one of only two Dine & Donate restaurants open during breakfast, lunch, and dinner hours—making any time on Monday, August 8, a great time to support ADFAC and Burchfield’s! (Submitted photo)

 

On Monday, August 8, 10 restaurant locations throughout Anderson County will donate a portion of their sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC. The event, Dine & Donate, happens on the second Monday of each month.

“Dine & Donate is a very important fundraiser for ADFAC,” said Cande Seay, Dine & Donate chair. “It always gladdens my heart to see friends and family dine out on second Mondays—enjoying meals together and helping ADFAC!”

Participating restaurants on Monday, August 8, are:

  • Burchfield’s in Oak Ridge
  • Hoskins in Clinton
  • Mediterranean Delight in Oak Ridge
  • Popeyes in Oak Ridge
  • Razzleberry’s in Oak Ridge
  • Subway locations in Clinton (both), west Oak Ridge (Four Oaks Center), Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top

[Read more…]

Secret City Festival hosts Willow Run Rosies 

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Eight of the 13 Rosie the Riveters are shown here along with Heritage Exhibit participant Tom Walker, Oak Ridge Heritage Room organizer Bobbie Martin, and Interpretive National Park Ranger Veronica Greear. The Rosies are, from left to right, Bette Kenward, Barb Matthews, Vikki Toth, Chris Brown, Patsy Kemner, Kate Weise, Susie Sweeney, and Alison Beatty (down front). (Photo by M. McBride)

Eight of the 13 Rosie the Riveters are shown here along with Heritage Exhibit participant Tom Walker, Oak Ridge Heritage Room organizer Bobbie Martin, and Interpretive National Park Ranger Veronica Greear. The Rosies are, from left to right, Bette Kenward, Barb Matthews, Vikki Toth, Chris Brown, Patsy Kemner, Kate Weise, Susie Sweeney, and Alison Beatty (down front). (Photo by M. McBride)

 

This year’s Secret City Festival hosted 13 members of the “Willow Run Rosies” from the Historic Willow Run bomber plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Wearing Rosie-The-Riveter costumes, these ladies helped re-create the spirit of the many Rosies who powered the American war effort during World War II.

The Rosies were part of a 20-person group from Michigan.

The Willow Run Rosies chatted with festival visitors in the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Room on Saturday during the city’s two-day festival. Each year, the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association sponsors a heritage room during the festival, featuring exhibits on the history of the super-secret Manhattan Project and its “Secret City” of Oak Ridge.

Tens of thousands of “Rosies” came here during World War II, as part of President Roosevelt’s massive effort to build an atomic bomb in time to end the war. [Read more…]

Centrus becomes benefactor sponsor for ADFAC

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Centrus Energy Corporation’s Jeff Cooper, left, presents the 2016 Corporate Membership contribution to ADFAC’s Executive Director Annie Cacheiro. (Submitted photo)

Centrus Energy Corporation’s Jeff Cooper, left, presents the 2016 Corporate Membership contribution to ADFAC’s Executive Director Annie Cacheiro. (Submitted photo)

 

ADFAC’s Corporate Committee is excited to announce Centrus Energy Corporation as the first 2016 Grand Benefactor Corporate Member. The generous donation was recently presented by Jeff Cooper, Centrus’s lead cascade project manager to ADFAC’s executive director, Annie Cacheiro, a press release said.

“This corporate contribution is going to help lead the way for other corporate contributions for ADFAC,” said Ray Smith of ADFAC’s Board of Directors. “It’s so appreciated and will truly help AFDAC fulfill their mission of ‘neighbors helping neighbors.'” [Read more…]

Friends of Oak Ridge Library sponsors local authors at Secret City Festival

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Oak Ridge Public Library

The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.

The Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library will participate in the Secret City Festival held at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on June 10-11 by sponsoring local writers and authors.

The authors will be in Room C of the Civic Center (next door to the Oak Ridge Historical Preservation Association) autographing and selling their books at the following times:

Friday, June 10

  • 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.—Carol Oen
  • 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.—Adele A. Roberts, Mark Griffith

[Read more…]