Allied troops landing on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Greetings!
Last week marked the 74th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944. On the anniversary, the Washington Post ’s Retropolis section discussed how technology, such as the Higgins boats used for amphibious landings, helped the D-Day landings succeed and led to Allied victory in World War II.

Manhattan Project veteran Russell Gackenbach remembered hearing the news of D-Day on his base: “I had to serve as service officer of the day. Word came in, 'The landing has occurred.' So I had the pleasure to call the base commander about 2:00 in the morning, getting a bawling out for waking him, until I told him, 'D-Day started.'"
IN THIS ISSUE:
  • Manhattan Project Sites News
  • Ed Westcott Nominated for Presidential Medal of Freedom
  • Manhattan Project Spotlight: Jack Schubert
  • History Article Roundup
  • "Voices of the Manhattan Project"
Manhattan Project Sites News
Before World War II, the town of White Bluffs, WA, had a bank, hotel, newspaper, ice cream parlor, and other businesses and places where the community would gather. In 1943, the Manhattan Project requisitioned the town. Today, the White Bluffs bank (pictured, photo courtesy of Dan Ostergaard) is the only remaining structure from the original townsite. Before its forced abandonment, the bank had two employees and was robbed on at least one occasion.

The Department of Energy recently completed a multi-year rehabilitation project on the bank, which had suffered significant deterioration over the years. In May, the rehabilitation project was awarded the 2018 Washington State Historic Preservation Office's Valerie Sivinski Award for Outstanding Rehabilitation. For more about the bank and the project, please see this Tri-City Herald article . To visit the bank and other pre-war Manhattan Project sites, sign up online . Tour registration is also open for the 2018 season to visit the B Reactor . Check out AHF’s “Ranger in Your Pocket” programs on the B Reactor and pre-war Hanford before your visit!
In Santa Fe, the New Mexico History Museum opened a new exhibit on June 3, “Atomic Histories.” The exhibit includes two installations by Santa Fe artist Meridel Rubenstein, “Oppenheimer’s Chair” and “The Meeting.” According to the Albuquerque Journal , the installations, “comprised of photos, videos, glass and steel, ground the exhibition of artifacts and photographs documenting the creation of the atomic bomb.” Several interviews by AHF will also be available for visitors to watch in the exhibit, which is open through May 2019. Read further down for more articles about the exhibit.

On June 1, the building at 101 Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge, TN was mostly demolished. After the Manhattan Project, it served as a security communication center. The building was connected by radio to Building 9213, which stored uranium-235 at the Y-12 Plant for about a year. 101 Bus Terminal Road was later used by the military and the Oak Ridge Police Department. For more, please see Demolished building once helped protect city, enriched uranium at Y-12 .
The Mound Cold War Discovery Center in Dayton, OH, is now open to the public on Wednesdays through Saturdays. During the Manhattan Project, scientists working for the Dayton Project worked on developing the polonium initiator for the Fat Man atomic bomb. After the war, Mound Laboratory (pictured) became a leading research and development facility for various US science programs, including nuclear weapons and energy and space programs. For more about the history of Dayton and Mound Laboratory, please see The amazing transformation of the historic Mound Labs in Miamisburg, from atomic triggers to office space .
Westcott Nominated for Pres. Medal of Freedom
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that photographer Ed Westcott (pictured) has been nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Westcott, who turned 96 earlier this year, was the official US Army photographer at Oak Ridge, TN during the Manhattan Project.

Westcott was one of the first people hired to join the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge. In thousands of photographs, he documented the construction, operations, and people of the “Secret City.” Westcott’s images captured life in Oak Ridge during World War II, depicting everything from women welders to baseball games.

The nomination was officially submitted by U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), whose district includes Oak Ridge, in 2017. Oak Ridge historian and AHF Board member D. Ray Smith comments, “I think we in Oak Ridge should do all we can to get Ed recognized at the highest level in our land because of his great artistic and historic contribution to the world-changing Manhattan Project. He far surpasses any other photographer who has documented the history of the Nuclear Age.”
The United States’ highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy in Executive Order 11085. It recognizes individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

Westcott’s nomination was also covered by WBIR. For the full article on Westcott (pictured in 1949, image courtesy of the Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office), click here .
Manhattan Project Spotlight: Jack Schubert
Jack Schubert (pictured) was an American chemist who worked at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory and Oak Ridge, TN during the Manhattan Project. After the war, Schubert conducted radiochemical reports on the effects of radiation from the nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in the   Marshall Islands for the U.S. Navy. During his career, he worked with the Atomic Energy Commission, Argonne National Laboratory, and the Ford Foundation in Argentina. He also taught Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. Schubert promoted peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and his scientific research was published in numerous journals.

In 2018, Ann Schubert, Jack’s daughter, donated her father’s document collection to the Atomic Heritage Foundation. The Jack Schubert Collection consists of hundreds of documents, including correspondence, certificates, newspaper articles, pamphlets, photographs, patent papers, and Schubert’s publications, ranging from the mid-1940s to the late 1970s.
One of the highlights of the collection is a telegram (pictured) sent by General Leslie R. Groves to the University of Chicago on August 15, 1945, asking for those involved with the project to maintain secrecy: “Official declaration of cessation of hostilities with Japan does not in any way alter security limitations on release of information on the atomic bomb project.” Another is a letter that Linus Pauling, a chemist and activist who won the Nobel Prize in both Chemistry and Peace, wrote to Schubert with comments on a proposed paper. 

The full Jack Schubert collection is housed in the AHF offices. A variety of the documents, newspaper articles, and photographs have been digitized. The digitized documents, as well as more information on Schubert, can be viewed on his  AHF profile page . To read the full article about the Schubert Collection, click here . We are grateful to Ann Schubert for her generous donation. 
History Article Roundup
A different kind of ‘atomic tourist’ visits Hanford : I n Crosscut , journalist Jenny Cunningham describes the visit of Mitsugi Moriguchi, a hibakusha or survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing, to Hanford and Richland, WA in March. (Pictured: the ruins of Urakami Cathedral after the Nagasaki bombing.)

Death becomes us and ' The whole nuclear cycle ’: The Santa Fe New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal review the new “Atomic Histories” exhibit at the New Mexico History Museum. The exhibit explores the impacts of the Manhattan Project on New Mexico and the state’s nuclear history.

Hiroshima survivor in Lowell to honor POWs killed in blast: On Memorial Day, Hiroshima survivor Shigeaki Mori visited Lowell, MA for the dedication of a memorial to 12 American prisoners of war who were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima. Mori has spent decades researching the men's lives and contacting their families.

The secret cities where the atomic bomb was built : CNN  discusses the "Secret Cities: The Architecture and Planning of the Manhattan Project" exhibition at the  National Building Museum .

 This brilliant Chinese scientist was taught she was just as capable as men. Then she came to America: This  Timeline  article profiles Chien-Shiung Wu (pictured), the Chinese American physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project at Columbia University.
"Voices of the Manhattan Project"
Here are some oral history interviews we have recently published on the  Voices of the Manhattan Project website. 
Gordon Garrett moved to Oak Ridge in 1944, at the age of seven. His father worked at the Y-12 plant; his mother was active in the Oak Ridge community. In this interview, Garrett recalls his childhood in the “Secret City” and describes some of the challenges residents faced and how they overcame them. He also discusses the problems of racial segregation and tensions between Oak Ridge and surrounding areas.
Harris Mayer is an American physicist. A student of both Edward Teller and Maria Goeppert-Mayer, he worked at Columbia University during the Manhattan Project. He later worked at Los Alamos on the hydrogen bomb. In this interview, Mayer discusses his close friendships with other scientists, and shares stories about Teller, Frederick Reines, and Richard Feynman.
William J. Nicholson grew up in Chicago, with a strong interest in aviation and aeronautics. During the Manhattan Project he worked as an assistant at the Met Lab. He then served in the Army Air Force. In this interview, Nicholson discusses his childhood and school years spent in Chicago. He then explains how he joined the Manhattan Project out of high school. He recalls the secrecy of the work, and describes working with and machining uranium and other metals.
Roger Stover is a nuclear engineer and U.S. Army veteran. In this interview, Stover discusses his work conducting radiation tests during nuclear tests at Eniwetok and at the Nevada Test Site. He recalls the overwhelming experience of witnessing both hydrogen bomb tests and fission nuclear weapon tests. Stover also describes his nuclear reactor work with the Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel Division in Pittsburgh, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory, and at Hanford Site.
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Atomic Heritage Foundation
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