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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Bill Wilcox (1923-2013) was an original resident of Oak Ridge, TN, and served as the Official Historian for the City of Oak Ridge, TN.

A chemistry graduate from Washington & Lee University in 1943, he was hired by the Tennessee Eastman Company on a secret project in an unknown location he and his friends nicknamed “Dogpatch.” He worked with uranium, which was referred to only by its codename “Tuballoy.” Wilcox worked at Y-12 for five years and then at K-25 for 20 years, retiring as Technical Director for Union Carbide Nuclear Division.

Wilcox actively promoted preservation of the history of the “Secret City” through the Oak Ridge Heritage & Preservation Association and by founding the Partnership for K-25 Preservation. He also published several books on Oak Ridge, including a history of Y-12 and “Opening the Gates of the Secret City.”
 

William J. Wilcox, Jr.'s Timeline
1923 Jan 25th Born.
1943 May Took work with the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, NY
1944 Feb Distilled the first sample of enriched uranium from the Y-12 reactor.
2013 Sep 2nd Passed away at the age of 90.

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