Civilian Life

George Warren Reed (1920-2015) was an American chemist. Reed was born in 1920 in Washington, DC. He received a B.S. and an M.S. from Howard University, both in chemistry. During World War II, Reed worked on the Manhattan Project at the Chicago Met Lab. He primarily researched fission yields of uranium and thorium to determine […]

[The Atomic Heritage Foundation is very grateful to Mark Morrison-Reed for donating this interview.] Mark Morrison-Reed: How would you describe your mother, grandmother, Mary Elizabeth? George Warren Reed: She was a tough cookie. Nobody crossed her. She ran a tight ship. Never held back. She always gave. Mark: What was Sarah like in comparison? Were they […]

Trisha Pritikin: We are in Lynnwood, Washington. Karen, can you spell your name and say your name, please? Karen Dorn Steele: Yeah. So, my name’s Karen Dorn Steele. K-a-r-e-n D-o-r-n S-t-e-e-l-e. Pritikin: Okay. I’d like to start with having you tell us, please, about your early life overseas growing up as the child of a […]

Cynthia Kelly: Okay, why don’t we start by having you tell us your name and spelling it? Collene Dunbar: My name is Collene Dunbar, C-O-L-L-E-N-E, and it’s pronounced Coll-ene. Jeffrey Nalezny: And your last name is spelled? Dunbar: D-U-N-B-A-R. Nalezny: Thank you. Kelly: Great! Thank you very much. Now we’re here to talk to about […]

Cynthia Kelly: Start by telling us your name and spelling it. Carol Roberts: Okay, my name is Carol B. Roberts. C-A-R-O-L, initial B, as in Bobby, R-O-B-E-R-T-S. I came here in June 1944 with my mother and my sisters because my dad had been sent by DuPont out here. That is how I came to be […]

Virginia Ballard: I was born in Charleston, West Virginia. When I finished ninth grade, my dad, who worked for DuPont in Bell, West Virginia, was transferred to Morgantown, West Virginia. We moved to Morgantown in the summer of 1942. In 1943, near the end of 1943, DuPont asked Dad to transfer to Richland, Washington, and […]

Cindy Kelly:   It is Tuesday, September 11, 2018. I’m Cindy Kelly. I have with me Robert Franklin, and my first request is to say your full name and spell it. Robert Franklin: Sure. My full name is Robert Redder Franklin, R-o-b-e-r-t R-e-d-d-e-r F-r-a-n-k-l-i-n. Kelly:  Thank you. Franklin: You’re welcome. Kelly:  Now, we want to know […]

Robert Franklin is the assistant director of the Hanford History Project. In this role, he is the archivist and oral historian for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Collection and Washington State University’s collections on Hanford. He attended Washington State University in Pullman and earned his Master’s degree in history. In graduate school, he took a […]

Cindy Kelly: It is Wednesday, September 12, 2018. I’m in Seattle, Washington, and I have Jackie Peterson with me. My first question to her is to tell me her full name and spell it. Jackie Peterson: My name is Jackie Peterson. It’s J-a-c-k-i-e Peterson, P-e-t-e-r-s-o-n. Kelly: I’d love to know more about yourself and how you […]

Jackie Peterson is an independent curator and exhibit developer in Seattle, Washington. She curated an exhibition called “The Atomic Frontier: Black Life at Hanford” at the Northwest African American Museum from October 2015-March 2016. In this interview, Peterson describes the exhibition and what she learned about African American experiences at Hanford during the Manhattan Project. […]