The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
Denise Kiernan
Language: English
Pages: 416
ISBN: 1451617534
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The New York Times bestseller, now available in paperback—an incredible 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.
“The best kind of nonfiction: marvelously reported, fluidly written, and a remarkable story...As meticulous and brilliant as it is compulsively readable.” —Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City
At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, and consumed more electricity than New York City, yet it was shrouded in such secrecy that it did not appear on any map. Thousands of civilians, many of them young women from small towns across the U.S., were recruited to this secret city, enticed by the promise of solid wages and war-ending work. What were they actually doing there? Very few knew. The purpose of this mysterious government project was kept a secret from the outside world and from the majority of the residents themselves. Some wondered why, despite the constant work and round-the-clock activity in this makeshift town, did no tangible product of any kind ever seem to leave its guarded gates? The women who kept this town running would find out at the end of the war, when Oak Ridge’s secret was revealed and changed the world forever.
Drawing from the voices and experiences of the women who lived and worked in Oak Ridge, The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of World War II from obscurity. Denise Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage. “A phenomenal story,” and Publishers Weekly called it an “intimate and revealing glimpse into one of the most important scientific developments in history.”
“Kiernan has amassed a deep reservoir of intimate details of what life was like for women living in the secret city...Rosie, it turns out, did much more than drive rivets.” —The Washington Post
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Military has notified your Ambassador Sato that it has declared war on your nation. Thus, all powerful countries of the world are now at war with you. Also, because of your leaders’ refusal to accept the surrender declaration that would enable Japan to honorably end this useless war, we have employed our atomic bomb. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s could have carried on a single mission. Radio Tokyo.
She had decided she wanted to stay in Oak Ridge. She had a job, softball, basketball, and a good place to live. Well, she thought she had a job. Right after the first bomb dropped, before Japan surrendered, word had begun to spread that the plants were closing. Some women at Y-12 were already making plans to move to Kingston, where Tennessee Eastman’s main operations were based. Sections of the Y-12 plant were shutting down and reducing shifts. She would have to find a new job. Could she? Would.
About that? That’s the reaction I still look forward to. 10. You previously published books about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. What was it like to write about a much more recent period of history in The Girls of Atomic City? There are certainly more documents I can get my hands on writing a book about World War II. The biggest plus is being able to speak directly to the people I’m writing about, and not rely on interviews conducted by others. Being in.
Construction, and infrastructure. But the Secretary and General were careful not to give too much information about the costs and size of the actual plants themselves. Everything was described in the broadest believable terms. Yet earlier in the year, it was becoming clear that some members of Congress might need to be brought into the loop. If House leadership were on board, several key members could be invited to Clinton Engineer Works where an idea of the size and scope of the Project might be.
Journal and he took pictures for a select few blessed with the proper clearance that no one else would see for a very, very long time. Today, he took a number of pictures of the freshly scrubbed General. He had learned over the years how to work with men of power, how to gently push them. You had to let them know you were the boss; they respected that, especially if it was going to result in a better image. He was particularly proud of the results of one snapshot in particular: The General stood.