City Behind a Fence: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1942-1946

Most people have heard about Hanford and Los Alamos, yet Oak Ridge also played an important part in the atomic energy program. This book gives insight into a town that was created by the government during WW2.The book is filled with great archive pictures of the town during the war years. A lot of the places described in the book are still standing in the town.I may be somewhat biased as I grew up in the 70's and 80's in this interesting town.

My husband always told me his Mom and Dad met and married in Oak Ridge, TN and he has always been after them to write - or tape - the story of their lives in Oak Ridge. His Mom always says "Oh, nobody wants to hear about that!" We attended a family reunion there and as part of the trip, visited the Museum of Atomic Energy in Oak Ridge. In the bookshop, I spotted this book, and couldn't leave without it. It was so interesting! I believe the people of Oak Ridge were in shock the days that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed, and they were so used to not talking about what they did there, the silence just continued. My inlaws confirmed that they truly did not know what they were building. When they saw news footage of the devastation, many Oak Ridgers didn't want anyone else to ever know. My inlaws say that a family member who worked there suffered such emotional trauma upon finding out, she was never normal again. No one knows what a unique place - in all the world and perhaps for all time - Oak Ridge, TN was - and is. If you believe that truth is often stranger than fiction, you'll enjoy this history lesson.

I was born in the Atomic City during the 60's, and grew up hearing the stories of my parents life 'behind the fences'. The book provided a glimpse of the way in which people endured hardship and sacrifice in the name of national security and for an often misunderstood (and rarely discussed) science. Many of the places mentioned in the story still exist today. This story may have meant more to me as a native to the area than to those simply looking for a story about the Manhattan Project, as it focused more on the daily lives of the people than the scientific matter.