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Greetings! 
Happy Veterans' Day! The origin of Veterans' Day was Armistice Day, the anniversary of the armistice signed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 to end fighting on the Western Front during World War I. Today, November 11 is a Federal holiday to honor American veterans of all wars. The Atomic Heritage Foundation extends its sincere thanks to all American veterans for their service and sacrifice for our nation's security and freedom. |
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Memories of the Manhattan Project
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First Row: Lilli Hornig, Benjamin Bederson, Harris Levee
Second Row: Watson Warriner, Anne McKusick
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In the spirit of honoring veterans, the Atomic Heritage Foundation spent the last month filming Manhattan Project veterans. Now in Providence, RI, Lilli Hornig studied chemistry at Harvard and worked at Los Alamos on plutonium chemistry while her husband Don Hornig invented the switches for the explosive lenses for plutonium bomb. In Manhattan, Benjamin Bederson studied physics and was sent by the Special Engineer Detachment (SED) to Los Alamos where he worked for Don Hornig. Nearly seven decades later, each remembers the other fondly.
Now retired in Gaithersburg, MD, Harris ("Hal") Levee was an engineer, recruited by the SED to work at the University of Chicago assisting Leo Szilard, Enrico Fermi and other senior scientists. Now living in Wilmington, DE, Watson Warriner, a chemical engineer with DuPont, worked at the Hanford Engineer Works. A train buff, Watson has recently spearheaded efforts to preserve two locomotives and cask cars now on display behind the B Reactor at Hanford. Anne McKusick, trained as a physicist, worked at Oak Ridge on the Y-12 calutrons but left physics for an MD from Johns Hopkins after the war.
The veterans' stories illuminate what it was like to be part of the Manhattan Project. If you are a veteran who would like to share his or her memories, please contact us by mail, at info@atomicheritage.org, or 202-293-0045. To see excerpts from our latest oral histories, please check our website and stay tuned for additions to our YouTube channel in the coming weeks.
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Guide to the Manhattan Project in Tennessee
 The second in the Atomic Heritage Foundation's guide book series should be hot off the press next week. In June 2010, A Guide to Manhattan Project Sites in New Mexico was published. Like its predecessor, the Tennessee guide is filled with colorful pictures and short stories from Manhattan Project participants. From Knoxville to Oak Ridge's muddy streets, the reader is introduced to the top-secret project known as the Clinton Engineer Works.
The guide features the three mammoth plants, each with different innovative technology for separating the isotopes of uranium. Also featured are "alphabet" homes that lined the hills and valleys and other community properties from the Manhattan Project.
This guidebook is indispensible to understanding the role that Oak Ridge, TN played in ending the war in the Pacific. To order your copy, please visit our online store at www.atomicheritage.org, Amazon.com, or place your order by phone at 202-293-0045. AHF would also like to extend a special thanks to the Department of Energy at Oak Ridge for funding this publication.
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Anticipating a Manhattan Project Park in Los Alamos
AHF's Cindy Kelly joined (from left to right) Heather McClenahan (Los Alamos Historical Society, LAHS), Gerry Strickfadden (Fuller Lodge/Historic Districts Advisory Board), Ellen McGehee (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Nancy Bartlit (LAHS), Jason Lott, Superintendent of Bandelier National Monument, and Denny Erickson (LAHS, seated) on Thursday, October 13, 2011. The meeting was held in Fuller Lodge to talk about the coming of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
Superintendent Jason Lott had several suggestions for the proposed Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Among other things, Jason said that the interpretation should connect the past to the present. The laboratory today should be a part of the story. In addition, he stressed the importance of providing for transportation for visitors going to sites in Los Alamos, Bandelier and the Valles Caldera. Ideally, an entrance/transportation center could be located at the eastern edge of Los Alamos.
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109 East Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM
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Larry Borger of Littleton, CO wrote a letter on October 11, 2011 to Santa Fe Mayor David Cross, Los Alamos County Chair Sharon Stover, LAHS Denny Erickson and New Mexico SHPO Jan Biella urging action to preserve and recognize 109 E. Palace in Santa Fe. The site was the office run by Dorothy McKibbin where Manhattan Project recruits just arriving in New Mexico reported before being transported on to Los Alamos. Having this office and perhaps the equivalent MED office down the street at 123 W. Palace as parts of a Manhattan Project interpretive "trail" could be a great opportunity, linking Santa Fe with Los Alamos. Thanks to Larry for his initiative in urging action to preserve this historic entry point in Santa Fe.
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This as an exciting time for those who care about preserving the Manhattan Project. But to realize the full potential of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park, we need as strong a partnership as there was for the original Manhattan Project. Your contributions help us continue to make the case for preserving the Manhattan Project's historic sites and creating a national historical park. Thank you very much for your support!
Sincerely, 
President |
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Atomic Heritage Foundation
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