The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

This is the story of a group of young women who upon answering obscure ads for jobs, put their trust in the government and worked toward making the first atomic bomb. I admire each and everyone of these women for I found their actions to be very courageous. Each took the chance of locking on to a good paying job as the small communities they formerly lived in were not hiring and also, each of them were looking for a way out of the dead end small towns they lived in. These women were far ahead of what we currently identify as the feminine movement. Their jobs ran the gauntlet from janitorial to secretarial to assisting researchers. The story revolves around vignettes of pieces of their lives, giving brief portions of their past and describing their current jobs and relationships with co-workers."The Girls of Atomic City" not only capture what is happening in Oak Ridge, Tennessee but also the fragments of lives who wound up working there. All their jobs and work were in strictest secrecy and even discussing your job would be cause for dismissal. This was a top secret operation and everyone learned early that "loose lips sink ships."Following the dropping of the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the workers then understood what their jobs were responsible for and there were many personal conflicts of pride and shame. They questioned way back then, "What would happen if the wrong people got ahold of this?" They suffered the angst and trauma of being part of this and justified it with the same reasoning that President Truman used; the fact that the bombs prevented what would have been even more American/Japanese casualties, or it would bring their brother, their father, their boy friend home safely.The novel took a decided nose-dive once the bombs fell and the secrets revealed and I feel the author struggled with the ending. It did however talk about the way Americans celebrated the end of the war which brought to mind the way my own small rural town in Illinois celebrated. The mayor of my community wanted all the bells to be rung but our little school was locked and neither the janitor nor the principal of the school could not be reached. I was 7 years old and tiny and when the mayor broke a small basement window of the school, I recall being crammed through this window and sliding down a coal chute. My task was to then find my way to the front door and unlock it so that the major and officials could ring the school bell.I give this novel four stars but I'm not sure I'd pass it on to family or friends. It is a low key story, no twists, nothing gripping and the only real excitement for the reader is being part of all the secrets from the initial stages to the completion of the bombs.

I was born in Tennessee and used to work in aerospace so when I saw this book about Oak Ridge, Tennessee it caught my eye immediately.  Oak Ridge was one of the locations for the work of The Manhattan Project to get an atomic bomb ready for use on Japan in WWII.  Kiernan does an amazing job of interweaving the personal experiences of those involved with this project with other information about the science and politics involved. Kiernan  begins with the scientists of Europe who are working on splitting the atom and describes how many scientists brought different pieces of information to the table.  She reports that it is a woman who suggested the possibility of nuclear fission and how it might be done altho she is never really credited for her work.  It makes interesting reading seeing how they fit the pieces together though and Kiernan gives very clear explanations of the science involved.  I did not expect to be able to understand that part, but I did fairly well.The rest of the book focuses on the stories of several women and men who work specifically at the Oak Ridge site making the "product".  This location eventually has a population of about 75,000.  It begins with government and military agents recruiting workers by telling them they were needed to work on a secret project that may very well end the war, but they could not know what it was or where they were going to live.  The recruiters played on patriotism and fear about relatives who were fighting overseas.  These workers were literally picked up by a cab or bus and put on a train or other form of transportation and taken to Oak Ridge.Before the workers arrived we see the usual process of manifest destiny play out on the poor rural population around Oak Ridge.  Families are poorly compensated typically, and that of course is a book in itself, but one that has already been written.  Then the construction workers are brought in to build housing for the coming workers. Houses for middle class family employees, dorms for single workers, huts with no windows in a segregated area for African Americans who are typically held to the same work they are outside, janitorial, etc.  Schools are eventually built for the white children of workers but not for the Af Ams.  One historian said it was the first community he was aware of that had been built with slums deliberately  planned.Workers are told what they need to know to do their piece of the project and nothing else.  They don't even actually know what they  are doing or at least what the purpose is.  For example some women are spending hours a day sitting on a stool reading gages and spinning dials, not knowing what they are measuring.  Some are testing pipes for leaks, not knowing what the pipes are for.  They are not allowed to discuss ANYTHING work related with anyone, no family, no friends, no one, which stresses all relationships.  Workers are recruited to spy on each other and to be merely accused by an informant was cause for dismissal.  Anyone breaking the rules disappears quickly.  When fired they are not given a clearance to work on anything else outside of this work for six months.  No one can hire them for any job without that piece of paper.  All of this stress makes a very tense situation and causes mental issues for some.  One case of a "mentally ill" man is described wherein he is literally held captive because he has figured out the secret and wants to warn the emperor of Japan.  The weight of what they have been involved in eventually effects many workers.  Other workers injured in accidents were also used for medical research.  A psychiatrist is called in to help and gets some treatment and some recreational relief.  Movies, and bowling alleys are built for white people, while if lucky African Americans may be able to catch a glimpse of the outdoor movie screen from a nearby hill.  Although they manage to make their own recreation.Although there are hard circumstances, many seem to thrive.  They have employment and are being paid well.  They are also learning new skills.  They make their own fun also with dances put on in tennis courts and  houses.  They form groups with people with similar interests to develop hobbies and other social groups, and have access to some hiking and other outdoor activities.As I review my highlights here are some things I found especially interesting. Kiernan describes the setting as an "Orwellian backdrop for a Rockwellian world"."The challenges of living with military supervision were replaced by the challenges of living without it." (employment, police and fire services, public transportation, elections, etc. when the war ends and the situation changes.)   A change is reported to research and development of peace time uses for nuclear power.After the war one woman goes to put flowers on her brothers "grave" in Pearl Harbor.  She cries in her grief.  A Japanese tourist nearby asks her if she lost someone here and when the answer is yes, she embraces the woman and says she is so sorry.  Counterpoint to the guilt some workers feel.The author does a way more balanced job of reporting than I have done here, and describes her process as melding together individual memory, collective community memory, primary source material, media coverage, etc.If George Bush or Barack Obama asked you today if you would work on a secret project to end our wars but he couldn't tell you what it is or where you will go or for how long, what would your answer be?  Five stars.

This book did a great job of presenting a lot of very interesting information in a highly readable way. I found the characters interesting and easy to understand in terms of their motivations. These were a lot of different types of people from different backgrounds and I find it amazing that they were able to be so secretive for so long. They are to be applauded.

Oak Ridge had more than 70 000 people when enriched uranium was produced there. Of course, it was all top secret. The women did not know that they worked at the stuff that was needed at Los Alamos to build the first nuclear bomb. Housing was substandard, conditions were harsh. But for young women it was a chance to flee from theier families, to earn their own money. The american society was changed after WWII, as was the case in the United Kingdom.A book worth your time.GEORGE THALLER

This is a really good read for anyone interested in the period, or the project. Does a good job of putting you in the setting, gives a good sense of the times in general.Also includes a novice level explanation of the function of the bomb, and their manufacture.It was the first of several books I read on the project.

Having a hard time getting into it. The author has all the characters with such short story lines. With reading it on a kindle I cannot go back a few pages like in a book to see who is who. Not that it matters as nothing really ever happens. It should be a very interesting book. I truly cannot understand the rave reviews.

I was quite disappointed by this book. Rather than following the story coherently it jumps back and forth between different viewpoints at different times, trying to handle each person individually. The reason given is to reflect the 'compartmentalised nature of the project', but it just feels annoying. The style is more suited to a 3 page Spiegel article than a book.This theme carries on with the chapters about the technical progress of the project, which are presented in a different typeface (yuck!) to try and look more like engineering briefings, and the deliberate use of codenames throughout which leaves you constantly checking the glossary to see what is going on.