Two of the calutron girls met with DOE Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall during her visit to Oak Ridge. Seated from left to right are Petty Stuart and Ruth Huddleston. Standing left to right are Kathryn Grant, special assistant to the deputy secretary; commander Wayne Smith, senior military assistant; Sherwood-Randall and Timothy McClees, chief of staff. (Photo courtesy CNS)
When Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall was in Oak Ridge last week, she met two “Calutron Girls” at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
Peggy Stuart and Ruth Huddleston both came to Y-12 when they were 18 years old. They both were recruited as seniors in high school when someone from Oak Ridge, a place Peggy did not know existed, came to their schools and invited them to join the war effort.
Peggy said: “My friend had worked there and got lonesome for home in Sneedville, Tennessee. When she decided to go back to Oak Ridge, I came with her. They did not hire her because she did not stay when she was there before, but I got a job.”
Ruth was living in Oliver Springs. When the Manhattan Project began, she knew that something big was happening, so she applied for a job and got it. Peggy and Ruth both married and have spent most of their lives in this area. [Read more…]
