Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

William Sweeney

PriestHanford, WA

Manhattan Project VeteranProject Worker/Staff
Hanford church tent Listen to William Sweeney’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

Monsignor William Sweeney studied for the priesthood in Worcester, Massachusetts, and came to Washington state in 1938. He went to Hanford in July of 1943, just as it was starting up. He gave Mass in a ragged tent on Sundays and in private homes on other Holy Days. Confessions took place in a closet. 

William Sweeney’s Timeline
1938 Came to Washington state

1943 Jul Started working at Hanford

Related Profiles

James Franck

Chicago, IL

James Franck (1882-1964) was a German physicist and winner of the 1925 Nobel Prize for Physics.   During the Manhattan Project, Franck served as Director of the Chemistry Division of the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory.

Glenn Wiltrout

Oak Ridge, TN

Glenn Wiltrout worked for the United States Engineer District Office.

Wayne Curtis

Hanford, WA

Jose E. Alcanes

Los Alamos, NM

Jose E. Alcanes was a staff member at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project.