The Girls of Atomic City

Published in 2013, Denise Kiernan’s The Girls of Atomic City tells the stories of Oak Ridge, a secret town that grew around plutonium processing plants in Tennessee, and of the women who worked there during the Second World War. A New York Times bestseller within its first week of publication, the book went on to receive the 2014 APSA Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award.

Via the experiences of several new arrivals, the reader learns about Oak Ridge, a strange new town that is far from complete and, officially, does not even exist. It stands in thick, cloying mud, there are no sidewalks, and demand for housing outstrips supply. Many are horrified by these conditions but tolerate them with a mixture of positive attitude and a wartime spirit of making do.

It quickly becomes clear that secrecy is central to employment in town and that most people taking jobs there do not know what their labor actually entails, though they accept their roles based on the understanding that they will helping contribute to a swift end to the war.

Before being allowed to work on site, prospective employees are heavily screened and are often held in limbo waiting for clearance. Once they begin working, knowledge is so heavily compartmentalized within the Project that workers have only a limited understanding of what they are doing or why they are doing it. In addition, there are constant reminders not to talk about work or share any information. Undercover officers and informers operate throughout the site, and there is a prevailing sense that someone is always watching.

For some, this culture of secrecy and surveillance—along with the difficult work and living conditions—produces a great deal of mental strain. Numerous creative efforts are made to bring a little more everyday life to the strange and secretive world of the Clinton Engineering Works (CEW). Before long, everything from dances, sports clubs, and music societies to scout troupes, an orchestra, and even an association of rabbit breeders spring up within the community’s barbed wire fences.

As the Oak Ridgers strive to find some normality among the secrecy, they keep the plants working day and night, producing ever-more refined plutonium that will ultimately be used as fuel for “the Gadget”: the atomic bomb.

The news that this is what they have been working on, and that atomic bombs have been dropped on Hiroshima and, days later, Nagasaki, brings mixed reactions from the workers of CEW. For many, desperate for an end to the war, the news of the bombings and of Japan’s surrender is source of jubilation and celebrations run into the night. Others are painfully aware that they have contributed to a colossal loss of life. Years later, many remain conflicted, remembering both their joy at the ending of the war and their sorrow, shame, and guilt.

The end of the war also brings great change for Oak Ridge and its inhabitants now that its original purpose is complete. For many, what was once a muddy outpost under military control is now their home, a fully functioning city with bus routes, residential areas, recreational facilities, and, above all, genuine community built in the face of adversity and hardship. Although some move on to other locations, many continue to live in Oak Ridge, working slowly to turn it into a “normal” town, creating a future that was never imagined for it.