Life in the Secret Cities

Alexandra Levy: We’re here on December 28, 2012 with Evelyne Litz. Please say your name and spell it. Evelyne Litz: Evelyne Litz, E-V-E-L-Y-N-E, L-I-T-Z. Levy: So where are you from originally? Litz: Chicago. Levy: And how did you become involved in the Manhattan Project? Litz: Well after we were married we had a job in […]

Anna Mae Gillespie: I was born in Oklahoma City, not Oklahoma City but Caldwell County, Oklahoma.  We left Oklahoma when I was about seven years old.  I had thirteen brothers and sisters. Theresa Strottman: That’s a very large family. Gillespie: Uh ha, and we were poor as Job’s turkey but everybody else was so we didn’t think we was […]

Theresa Strottman: As we start, could you briefly tell me when and where you were born and something about your early education and training? Bob Porton: I’ll tell you where I was born; when I was born is classified.  I was born in Washington D.C. and one of the few people that admit that they were born […]

William J. Wilcox, Jr.: My name is Bill Wilcox. Oak Ridge, Tennessee resident for sixty-three years. Ever since—pretty much since the beginning of Oak Ridge. Can’t imagine a better calling, a better career, a better place to live, better people to work for, better people to work with, or to be associated with. Very important […]

Santa Fe was the first stop for many scientists, engineers, Women’s Army Corps, military police and all others assigned to work on the top-secret project at Los Alamos.  Lamy Ten miles from Santa Fe, Lamy is the nearest stop on the former Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Young men and women assigned to work […]

Jackson Square was the heart of Oak Ridge’s business district. Originally Town Center No. 1, the name Jackson Square was adopted in February 1945 as Oak Ridge moved away from military terminology. The site was one of five commercial shopping areas distributed across the Oak Ridge reservation. Residents frequented the square on weekends and weekdays to […]

In early 1944, DuPont, the operating contractor at Hanford, foresaw the need for four chemical separation facilities. These facilities, designated the T and U plants at location 200-West and the B and C plants at location 200-East (the C plant was never built), would be located approximately ten miles south of the reactors. The separation […]

Wendover Air Field was chosen as the rear training base for the 509th Composite Group because of its isolation. It is located in the salt flats located 125 miles west of Salt Lake City. Colonel Paul Tibbets, head of the 509th, remarked upon seeing Wendover for himself: “The end of the world, perfect.” Life at […]

Michel: My name was Mary Lowe, L-O-W-E, and I married John Michel, M-I-C-H-E-L. Kelly: Great. Is it possible that you can look toward me? So tell me, how and when did you come to Oak Ridge? Michel: I came in November of 1944. Kelly: And what had—where had you come from? What brought you here? […]

Robert Ellingson: My name is Robert Ellingson, and it’s spelled E-L-L-I-N-G-S-O-N.  Kelly: Great. Now if you could just tell us where you’re from, and how you happened to end up in the Manhattan Project. Ellingson: I am from a little town in Idaho, and Idaho is west of Wyoming if you’re not familiar with the […]