National Press on Manhattan Project Park 

The Pond Cabin at Los Alamos Photo courtesy of Ellen McGehee, LANL

Congressional consideration of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act galvanized national interest in the history of the Manhattan Project. On December 3, 2012 the New York Times (NYT) published an article, Bid to Preserve Manhattan Project Sites in a Park Stirs Debate, on the proposed Park. The article focused on the importance of passing the legislation to preserve some of the properties and artifacts from the Manhattan Project.

NYT science reporter Bill Broad featured the Pond Cabin in Los Alamos, where Emilio Segrè researched the behavior of the recently discovered plutonium. Segrè's work at the Pond Cabin was critical to the design of the "Gadget" tested at Trinity Site and the first atomic bombs. In the article, Atomic Heritage Foundation President Cindy Kelly and National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis express their support for the Park. Kelly explains, "It's a way to help educate the next generation." 

Norris Bradbury with the "Gadget" atomic bomb, used in the Trinity test at Alamogordo. Photo courtesy of LANL.

On December 7, The Boston Globe published a strong editorial urging Congress to pass the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act. On December 16, the Seattle Times featured an excellent op-ed by Clarence Moriwaki, president of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association. His grandfather and several other family members were killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 

 

Moriwaki argued, "The Manhattan Project is an important chapter of American history, and I believe we should recount all parts of our heritage, even the painful moments. We cannot rewrite history - nor should we cast blame, guilt or shame. But we cannot sweep historic events under the rug either."  

 

Other articles on the legislation are summarized on AHF's website: National Press on MP Park Debate and National Support for Manhattan Project Park. We expect the press will continue to follow the issue with interest as the 113th Congress considers the Manhattan Project National Historical Park this year. 

 

New Additions to "Voices of the Manhattan Project"

Larry O'Rourke's SAM Lab badge

AHF and the Los Alamos Historical Society are continuing to add oral histories to our Voices of the Manhattan Project website. The website currently features 30 oral histories, a small fraction of the oral histories we plan to add in the coming months. Since we launched "Voices of the Manhattan Project" in November, we've had 3,500 unique visitors to the website.

Among others, we plan to add the interviews conducted by Michael Vickio, the founder and president of the Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Association (MPHPA). When Vickio passed away in 2005, the MPHPA's board of directors gave AHF the rights to the oral histories Vickio had collected. We have already added two interviews with Manhattan Project veteran Lawrence O'Rourke: Lawrence O'Rourke's First Interview and Lawrence O'Rourke's Second Interview.

Larry O'Rourke and friends at dinner

 

Lawrence S. O'Rourke began working on the Manhattan Project at Columbia University after he was called up from the Army Reserves in 1944. O'Rourke was among the first group of SEDs who worked at Columbia, where he helped research and develop the gaseous diffusion process for the separation of uranium. After nine months, O'Rourke's group moved from the Pupin Physics Lab to the Nash Garage Building, where they helped develop the barrier material that would be used at the K-25 plant in Oak Ridge. 

 

In 1945, O'Rourke was transferred to Oak Ridge and continued to work on research and development of a barrier material at K-25. O'Rourke also spent time at the Houdaille-Hershey Plant in Decatur, IL where he helped install and train people on how to test the barrier material. 

Keep checking "Voices of the Manhattan Project" frequently for new interviews. Also, please take our brief survey to give us feedback on how to improve the site. Thank you!  

 

Recent Interviews with Manhattan Project Veterans

Larry Litz's Los Alamos badge portrait

  

In addition to adding interviews AHF and LAHS have collected over the years to "Voices of the Manhattan Project," we are continuing to conduct new interviews of Manhattan Project veterans and their families. In December, AHF Program Manager Alexandra Levy interviewed three Manhattan Project veterans in Florida. Lawrence Litz helped cast the plutonium used in the Fat Man bomb, and also holds more than 40 patents. In his interview, he discussed his plutonium work and his impression of Los Alamos. He and his wife, Evelyne, were the first two people to see metallic plutonium.

 

In her interview, Evelyne talked about having a baby and raising a child at Los Alamos. She worked in health physics during the Manhattan Project, and also in the library. She and Larry were good friends with the Tucks, and lived next door to Richard Feynman for a time. She recalled taking the train with Larry and their puppy from Chicago to Lamy, NM. At the humble station at Lamy, they waited for hours until someone recognized Larry. She was captivated by the beauty of Los Alamos, and recalled crying when she left after the war's end.

The Fat Man bomb, after assembly on Tinian

Max Gittler, a New York native, was selected to go to Oak Ridge because of his engineering background. He and three other soldiers were chosen to regularly drive radioactive material from Oak Ridge to Santa Fe, Berkeley, and Chicago. For security reasons, they were not allowed into Los Alamos-they made their delivery in Santa Fe. They had to monitor the amount of radiation they received, and keep an eye on the package they were carrying, which weighed about two tons. During one trip, icy roads caused the truck to swerve and the package fell off the truck! But working together, the soldiers were able to get the package back on the truck and continue their journey. 

 

Max's story was published in the March 2011 Los Alamos Historical Society newsletter, Carrying Material for the Bombs. It's a captivating read.

 

We hope to have these new oral histories up on the Voices website within the next month, so keep checking for updates!