5 minute read
Betty’s Column
from Mt. Morris Times
by Shaw Media
LOCAL HISTORY T he Making of the Bomb in Oak Ridge - Part 6
On Aug. 21, 2020 I wrote an article about the involvementofmyauntanduncleinthemaking of the atomic bomb at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I receivedseveralcommentsfromothershowthey toohadfamilymemberstakingpartinthatManhattanProject.
A number of weekslatermy cousinsentme a picture ofmy aunt in thenursing home beside her bed that had a beautifulquilt on it. On the quilt was a book titled, “The Girls of Atomic City.”
While the snow and ice makes it treacherous formetogetout,I am goingtogiveyounumerous detailsofwhatitwasliketobea part of that time inOakRidge,Tennessee.
Thebookansweredmanyquestionsformeand you may be interested in what I found out as I readthisbookpublishedin2013byDeniseKiernan. Thestorylinefollows16women and12men whoplayeda part in theirlives.Theauthorcalled themthe“principalcastofcharacters.”
Everything and nothing had changed... the author of the book wrote. Workers were told to continue work as usual but many found this difficult. Reactions to the dropping of the first bomb were different from workers in Oak Ridge to those on the outside world.
Jane’s father, living several miles away, was worried about his daughter working so close to anything with such power. Jane’s sister told her to inform her father about all the precautions she had been taking. Family members were now concerned.
When the second bomb was dropped on August 9th it brought an end to the war. While others were gathering in the streets to celebrate, one young woman went quietly up to her dorm room, sat on the edge of her bed, and simply cried. It was almost more than one could emotionally stand.
One father was concerned about the power the atomic bomb would have for the world and what this would mean for the future. We are still dealing with that power and our future in our world today.
From 1942 on, over a million women rolled up their sleeves and went to work in jobs they had never done before. They were in factories, offices, gathering up scrap metal, and saving grease in their homes.
At Oak Ridge no one told Helen and Dot what it meant as they turned the knobs this way and that way. No one told Katie who cleaned the plant what that area was doing. They all were simply doing as they were told. Now they were up in the air. Did they have a job or did they not have a job since the war was over?
Rosemary, who had been a nurse in a clinic, wondered what she would do. Should she go back to Chicago or go back to school? Then she was offered a job to stay on and work for different doctors in Oak Ridge and this she decided to do. She liked the area even though she had never seen the entire plant at Oak Ridge. She decided she would study and learn more about radiation.
Vi Warren, of the Oak Ridge Journal, had learned to accept the secrecy of her husband, Dr. Warren. She had given up being a part of his confidence and yet here she was a newspaper journalist. Suddenly they realized that biggest of all scoops had been “right under their noses and they were not permitted to know it, let alone report it.”
Then to add insult to injury, they had to wait on the reporting of it until all major news had covered it. The headlines in the Oak Ridge Journal eventually said, “Oak Ridge attacks Japanese!”
Soon the public was clamoring for more news and this was difficult for a new newspaper that had known nothing! Suddenly newspapers across the United States were printing more about Oak Ridge than what Oak Ridge Journal had been able to print about themselves for many, many months.
Soon an abundance of reporters and news agencies flooded the town wanting stories of what had gone on in this remote little area. People were also packing up and leaving. But the signs on the bill boards were still saying, “Keep on The Job.”
My aunt and uncle were also trying to figure it all out. Do we stay or do we leave? They eventually left and went to Cape Girardeau, Missouri where many in our family lived.
COMMENTARY Betty Obendorf Polo Historical Society
Photos supplied by Betty Obendorf
These are the captions that accompanied the images in “The Atomic City” book. ABOVE: “Young female cubicle operators monitor the activity of the calutrons, the heart
of the electromagnetic separation process.” RIGHT:
This New York Times bestseller tells the true story of the top-secret World War II town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the young women brought there unknowingly to help build the atomic bomb.
POLO CHAMBER CHATTER
New Member
Welcome to our newest Polo Chamber of Commerce Member, Divorce Proof Your Marriage Coaching, LLC, 515 E. Oregon St., Polo, IL, Phone 815-631-4491, Email dpymcoaching@gmail.com.
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