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The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, by Denise Kiernan
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The New York Times bestseller, now available in paperback—an incredible true story of the top-secret World War II town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the young women brought there unknowingly to help build the atomic bomb.
“The best kind of nonfiction: marvelously reported, fluidly written, and a remarkable story...As meticulous and brilliant as it is compulsively readable.” —Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City
At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, and consumed more electricity than New York City, yet it was shrouded in such secrecy that it did not appear on any map. Thousands of civilians, many of them young women from small towns across the U.S., were recruited to this secret city, enticed by the promise of solid wages and war-ending work. What were they actually doing there? Very few knew. The purpose of this mysterious government project was kept a secret from the outside world and from the majority of the residents themselves. Some wondered why, despite the constant work and round-the-clock activity in this makeshift town, did no tangible product of any kind ever seem to leave its guarded gates? The women who kept this town running would find out at the end of the war, when Oak Ridge’s secret was revealed and changed the world forever.
Drawing from the voices and experiences of the women who lived and worked in Oak Ridge, The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of World War II from obscurity. Denise Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage. “A phenomenal story,” and Publishers Weekly called it an “intimate and revealing glimpse into one of the most important scientific developments in history.”
“Kiernan has amassed a deep reservoir of intimate details of what life was like for women living in the secret city...Rosie, it turns out, did much more than drive rivets.” —The Washington Post
- Sales Rank: #5576 in Books
- Brand: Kiernan, Denise
- Published on: 2014-03-11
- Released on: 2014-03-11
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x 1.20" w x 6.00" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 416 pages
Amazon.com Review
A Note from Denise Kiernan, Author of The Girls of Atomic City
Most of us have grown up with the humbling power of the atomic bomb looming somewhere in our collective consciousness. We are at least familiar with the phrase "Manhattan Project," even if we know little of the history behind that World War II effort to make the world's first nuclear weapon. Los Alamos. Oppenheimer. Fermi. Groves. These names may ring a bell, if only a distant one. The story of the Manhattan Project is often discussed from the perspective of high-profile scientific minds and decision-makers.
A black-and-white photo of young women monitoring gigantic panels covered in knobs and dials both altered my view of this story and inspired me to write The Girls of Atomic City. I was struck by the youth of these women, the size of the room, the unfamiliar technology. They did not know they were enriching uranium and would not know until a bomb detonated above Hiroshima. What were they thinking? What did the Manhattan Project look like through their eyes? I had my way in. I tracked down everyone I could who had worked on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during World War II.
I entered a top-secret compound, one that straddled two worlds: that which existed before and that which followed the dawn of the nuclear age. Octogenarians as my trusted guides, I found not only fission and cyclotrons, but rations and dances. The satisfaction of doing one's part mixed with the anxiety of wartime. It was a world of pioneering spirit and propaganda, of scientific gains and personal loss. Loved ones were far away, deadlines and informants lurking much nearer. There was always waiting: for news, for cigarettes, for letters, for the end of the war. When that end came, it was a relief and a shock. Secrets were revealed, others still remain.
I hope readers will be as fascinated by this moment in time as I was, as I still am.
Young female cubicle operators monitor the activity of the calutrons, the heart of the uranium electromagnetic separation process at the Y-12 plant. Courtesy of Ed WestcottClick here for a larger image.
Housing options included dorms and prefab homes, but also hutments and trailers, like those pictured here. Courtesy of Ed WestcottClick here for a larger image.
Billboards and posters extolling patriotism and discretion were found throughout the United States during World War II. Images throughout Oak Ridge reminded residents to work hard and keep quiet about what went on inside their fences. Courtesy of Ed WestcottClick here for a larger image.
Young women exit their dorm to celebrate the end of World War II. Courtesy of Ed WestcottClick here for a larger image.
From Booklist
Atomic-bomb history includes works about the communities of workers attached to the main installations where the first nuclear weapon was built. Kiernan’s contribution covers Oak Ridge, Tennessee, site of enormous factories built to separate uranium isotopes. A type of oral history, Kiernan’s account derives from her intensive interviews with 10 women who, in their youth, labored in a range of occupations at Oak Ridge, from janitor to machine operator to secretary to engineer. With surrounding scaffolding of the scientific fundamentals and the 1942–45 technical development of the bomb, the narrative runs as a collection of individuals’ life stories that recall circumstances of recruitment and the spartan conditions at Oak Ridge, on and off the job. Some commonalities of experience include the secrecy in which the women worked and the discrimination they endured (racial segregation in the case of the janitor; sexism in the cases of white women workers). Kiernan snugly fits original research into the creation story of Oak Ridge and should engage readers interested in both women’s history and the background of the atomic bomb. --Gilbert Taylor
Review
“I love these kinds of books, and this is a great one....It’s a phenomenal story.” (Jon Stewart, The Daily Show)
“Fascinating ... Kiernan has amassed a deep reservoir of intimate details of what life was like for women living in the secret city, gleaned from seven years of interviews and research. ... Rosie, it turns out, did much more than drive rivets.” (The Washington Post)
“Kiernan…brings a unique and personal perspective to this key part of American history.…Instead of the words of top scientists and government officials, Kiernan recounts the experiences of factory workers, secretaries, and low-level chemists in a town that housed at its peak 75,000 people trained not to talk about what they knew or what they did. She combines their stories with detailed reporting that provides a clear and compelling picture of this fascinating time.” (The Boston Globe)
“Kiernan’s focus is on the intimate and often strange details of work and life at Oak Ridge. It’s told in a novelistic style and is an intimate look at the experiences of the young women who worked at Oak Ridge and the local residents whose lives were changed by the presence of the project.” (The San Francisco Book Review)
“Kiernan’s book, the result of seven years of research and interviews with the surviving 'girls,' sparkles with their bright, WWII slang and spirit, and takes readers behind the scenes into the hive-like encampments and cubicles where they spent their days and nights.…The Girls of Atomic City brings to light a forgotten chapter in our history that combines a vivid, novelistic story with often troubling science.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
“The image of Rosie the Riveter — women filling in at factories to help the war effort — is well known. But women also assisted on the Manhattan Project, signing up for secret work in Oak Ridge, Tenn., to help build the atomic bomb. Kiernan looks at the lives and contributions of these unsung women who worked in jobs from secretaries to chemists.” (New York Post)
“Kiernan’s accounts ring with authenticity.…The Girls of Atomic City is fascinating." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
"As most of us are all too aware, the generation who fought in World War II or supported the effort from home are leaving us -- their children, grandchildren, and greats -- to carry on without them. Thanks to author Kiernan, we hear from a group of that generation's women, now in their eighties and nineties, whose wartime experience matched no one else's. Ever. Anywhere." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
“A fresh take on the secret city built in the mountains of Tennessee as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II… An inspiring account of how people can respond with their best when called upon.” (Kirkus Reviews)
"Denise Kiernan recreates, with cinematic vividness and clarity, the surreal Orwell-meets-Margaret Atwood environment of Oak Ridge as experienced by some of the women who were there: secretaries, technicians, a nurse, a statistician, a leak pipe inspector, a chemist, and a janitor." (DailyBeast.com)
“Kiernan snugly fits original research into the creation story of Oak Ridge and should engage readers interested in both women’s history and the background of the atomic bomb.” (Booklist)
“This intimate and revealing glimpse into one of the most important scientific developments in history will appeal to a broad audience.” (Publishers Weekly)
"A lively story about the tens of thousands of women who made the bomb -- from the power-plant janitor struggling each day through the mud to the exiled physicist in Sweden -- The Girls of Atomic City offers a bottom-up history revealing that the atomic bomb was not simply the product of J. Robert Oppenheimer's genius, but also of the work of women at every level of education and class." (BrainPickings.org)
“The Girls of Atomic City is the best kind of nonfiction: marvelously reported, fluidly written, and a remarkable story about a remarkable group of women who performed clandestine and vital work during World War II. Denise Kiernan recreates this forgotten chapter in American history in a work as meticulous and brilliant as it is compulsively readable.” (Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City)
“Great, relevant, readable.” (--The Washingtonian)
"Kiernan has contributed a new and vital chapter to studies of American political development and women and politics." (American Political Science Association)
Most helpful customer reviews
198 of 201 people found the following review helpful.
Everyone should read this book!
By Margery McGrath
The other reviews on "The Girls of Atomic City" are wonderfully written. I agree with all the positive comments on the book's accurate reflection of the times, and I loved getting to know "the girls". I wanted to write a review because of a family connection! I'm 91 and have always been interested in keeping alive the stories of my relatives. I remember in 1943 my aunt came to tell my mother that she had accepted a very important job in Tennessee, but that she could not talk about it. She would be leaving soon and wanted to say goodbye. My aunt honored the code of silence about her work at Oak Ridge all her life. Long after the war we knew she had something to do with the project to built the atomic bomb, but I had no idea of the challenging reality she faced until reading the book on my Kindle. Many puzzle pieces about my aunt have now fallen into place. I am so grateful that the author decided to tell this story of how ordinary women put their country's needs ahead of their own. It is wonderful that their contribution is being recognized.
172 of 178 people found the following review helpful.
"The Girls of Atomic City" tells Oak Ridge's story in a new light
By David Ray Smith
Denise Kiernan has succeeded in her new book, "The Girls of Atomic City," to tell the story of Oak Ridge, TN, during the Manhattan Project in a way that is unique and gives insight until now hidden. Writers who have focused on this story before have either featured the technical details or have focused on the overall and truly amazing accomplishment that ended a World War having already killed 54,000,000 people! A great story, however, told.
But, Denise takes a much more intimate and personal approach to telling this amazing story in Oak Ridge (where 60% of the approximately $2 billion "Project" was spent) using the eyes (and memories) of some of the working ladies who actually did the real work of separating uranium (without knowing it), checking the leaks in pipes (not knowing where the pipes went), keeping the statistical data, doing the hard work of a janitor, a chemist (who got closest to the "product") and secretaries who saw documents they could never discuss. This approach results in a more realistic telling of the day to day activities in Oak Ridge and the government sites of X-10, Y-12, K-25 and S-50. The intrigue springs from every page!
The stories of these nine ladies, (Helen, Colleen, Celia, Toni, Jane, Kattie, Virginia, Dot and Rosemary), each unique, yet each holding much in common, is bound together by Denise's wonderfully talented skill as a writer. She paints a composite picture of Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project that will become a classic in the literature of this extraordinary historical accomplishment that has led to so many technological advances of the Nuclear Age.
This amazing world changing experiment was begun using many women from various backgrounds as workers. The interviews and detailed memories of the lives Denise touched while researching this book have produced more than a mere book, she has created lasting relationships with the last of the living who actually experienced something many cannot imagine. They were personally involved in what has been labeled the most significant military industrial scientific breakthrough in the history of the world.
Remember, these nine represent literally thousands of other women who worked just as diligently, just as courageously, to help win that awful war. Denise captures the grit, the determination and the resultant exuberance when their efforts produced that glorious peace stopping the killing.
Reading "The Girls of Atomic City" is a delightful and spellbinding tale that were it not true would be fiction of the highest order, but it is real...these women lived it. Denise has captured it.
The book is a must read for anyone who studies the Manhattan Project history or especially the history of Oak Ridge, TN, and who wants to share the insights of these women who were there when it happened.
97 of 100 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent portrayal of life during the war
By EWebb
As a native Tennessean and frequent visitor to Oak Ridge I eagerly awaited the release of this book. I was not at all disappointed.
The story of Oak Ridge, how its purpose and existence was kept a secret, and the development of the atomic bomb is fascinating by itself. What Kiernan does here though is add the stories of the regular people who knew they were working for the country's benefit and did so with blind faith and a patriotic purpose.
The book gives an excellent picture of everyday life in Oak Ridge and the lifestyles and people of Tennessee in he 1940s. Everyday life changed dramatically after the start of the war and we see the adaptions that all Americans had to make.
Of course they were also looking for jobs after the depression of the 30s but it would still take a strong resolve to work hard each day when the purpose and accomplishments are mysterious.
The stories of these women are so well told that by the end of the book I found myself wanting to find out where they ended up (those that are still living) and wanting to visit and talk with my new friends. The photographs in the book are just outstanding and truly make this book come alive.
This is not a deep intense study into the history of atomic science but a well told story of some women, who without knowing they were doing so, helped America finish a nightmarish World War.
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