Monday, February 25, 2008
SECRET CITY SHHHHHHH OAK RIDGE, TN
How do you keep a secret when dealing with upwards of 80,000 people? Why do you keep a secret when dealing with upwards of 80,000 people? Answer; When desperation is an issue. When faced with the very basic question of survival.
Given; the United States was attacked on December 7th, 1941 by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. Our country was forced into World War 11 and suffered tragedy and terror. By 1945, after the destruction of Hitler, the United States threatened the Japanese government with another sort of destruction of monumental proportions if they did not surrender--atomic power unleashed in a bomb.
How could the presidents FDR and later, Harry S. Truman back these threats? This is the reason for the creation in 1942 of secret city of Oak Ridge and the focus of our visit to the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) on the outskirts of Knoxville, TN.
The occupants of the secret city nestled in this remote area of Tennessee and cradled in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains included the most brilliant scientists of the day, (Albert Einstein) and the top military strategist, General Leslie Groves. Numerous units of housing and several high-tech research facilities were built in record time. It was said that the houses and hutants (prefabs) were built at the rate of one house every 30 minutes. The city became a gated compound with tough security to keep people in or to keep people out, depending on who you were.
The expected size of the city was to be 30,000. It swelled to 80,000 in the end. FDR believed that the Germans were close to developing a nuclear bomb to be used to destroy our country. He vowed to be the first in developing such a weapon and aimed to use the weapon well ahead of the enemy.
Secrecy became the internal weapon in Oak Ridge City to guarantee success. Workers were trained to carry out their jobs only, to be uninformed of other aspects of the work being done and to cease from discussion among themselves and others about life or their work in the secret city.
In August of 1945, the role of Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project bore fruit. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the rest is history.
The American Museum Science and Energy recounts the stories of life and work in the planned city of Oak Ridge. It has been fully documented on film due to the work of Ed Wescott, a young photographer, who was hired in 1942 to capture the events taking place in Oak Ridge. His images depict the stories of the scientists, the work in the research labs, the machinery, the equipment, the social life and the development of the society of the now infamous Oak Ridge--a town, whose purpose rapidly declined upon the surrender of the Japanese government in 1945.
In spite of this decline, the population did not shrink greatly in Oak Ridge after the war. The term fallout took on a new meaning after the advent of nuclear warfare. The study of the effects of nuclear radiation upon the inhabitants of Oak Ridge became intense, opening up the gates of the secret city and revealing these secrets to the world.
To learn more about the history of Oak Ridge City, visit http://www.oakridgevisitor.com/home.html
To see more of the photographs of Ed Wescott’s work visit http://sunsite.utk.edu/westcott/
Given; the United States was attacked on December 7th, 1941 by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. Our country was forced into World War 11 and suffered tragedy and terror. By 1945, after the destruction of Hitler, the United States threatened the Japanese government with another sort of destruction of monumental proportions if they did not surrender--atomic power unleashed in a bomb.
How could the presidents FDR and later, Harry S. Truman back these threats? This is the reason for the creation in 1942 of secret city of Oak Ridge and the focus of our visit to the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) on the outskirts of Knoxville, TN.
The occupants of the secret city nestled in this remote area of Tennessee and cradled in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains included the most brilliant scientists of the day, (Albert Einstein) and the top military strategist, General Leslie Groves. Numerous units of housing and several high-tech research facilities were built in record time. It was said that the houses and hutants (prefabs) were built at the rate of one house every 30 minutes. The city became a gated compound with tough security to keep people in or to keep people out, depending on who you were.
The expected size of the city was to be 30,000. It swelled to 80,000 in the end. FDR believed that the Germans were close to developing a nuclear bomb to be used to destroy our country. He vowed to be the first in developing such a weapon and aimed to use the weapon well ahead of the enemy.
Secrecy became the internal weapon in Oak Ridge City to guarantee success. Workers were trained to carry out their jobs only, to be uninformed of other aspects of the work being done and to cease from discussion among themselves and others about life or their work in the secret city.
In August of 1945, the role of Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project bore fruit. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the rest is history.
The American Museum Science and Energy recounts the stories of life and work in the planned city of Oak Ridge. It has been fully documented on film due to the work of Ed Wescott, a young photographer, who was hired in 1942 to capture the events taking place in Oak Ridge. His images depict the stories of the scientists, the work in the research labs, the machinery, the equipment, the social life and the development of the society of the now infamous Oak Ridge--a town, whose purpose rapidly declined upon the surrender of the Japanese government in 1945.
In spite of this decline, the population did not shrink greatly in Oak Ridge after the war. The term fallout took on a new meaning after the advent of nuclear warfare. The study of the effects of nuclear radiation upon the inhabitants of Oak Ridge became intense, opening up the gates of the secret city and revealing these secrets to the world.
To learn more about the history of Oak Ridge City, visit http://www.oakridgevisitor.com/home.html
To see more of the photographs of Ed Wescott’s work visit http://sunsite.utk.edu/westcott/
# posted by Ann Carol @ 8:14 PM 
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