Oak Ridge, Tenn. – (June 2, 2010) –As a part of the 8th Annual Secret City Festival, the Oak Ridge Heritage & Preservation Association (ORHPA) will present its 10th year of historical displays. Festivalgoers are invited to view some 1945 guests dressed as Ed Westcott, General Groves, Colonel Nichols, and others representing the United States military and local residents.
The Manhattan Project’s Clinton Engineer Works (CEW), nestled in a valley in eastern Tennessee, was a secret to the world. The 75.000 residents and 82,000 workers had no idea they were helping to end WWII. Families, some with young men fighting in the war, came to Oak Ridge to work. They had never heard of the city’s existence nor did they know where it was located. Then on August 6, 1945 the secret of Oak Ridge, Tennessee got out.
The historic “Wars End” report was documented by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineer official government photographer named Ed Westcott. On July 18, 1945, Westcott traveled by train to Washington, D.C. with orders to photograph General Groves and his assistant, General Farrell. These photos, along with others Westcott captured, were included in the national press release announcement about the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. Westcott himself had to listen to the radio to learn what all this meant. Westcott’s documentation allows us to “Celebrate Oak Ridge History” 65 years later. Westcott will be on-hand at the festival.
ORHPA presents many history displays inside the Civic Center A, B &C Rooms:
A large WWII private collection belonging to Lloyd & Betty Stokes will be on display during the festival. Their collection has also expanded to include “100 years of Boy Scouting,” featuring Oak Ridge’s first scout troop, #129.
The Special Engineer Detachment Army Specialists were urgently needed here because they possessed special technical skills or aptitudes needed for the project. There will be a special display on view featuring living quarters and uniforms. There will be an added focus on WWII soldiers, letters home, photos and books.
Oak Ridge workers contributed their earnings and worked extra hours plus Sundays to buy a B-29 Bomber plane for the war effort. Knoxville resident Tom Evans was one of the pilots who flew this bomber, known as the Sunday Punch. He will attend the festival on Saturday to sign an 8x10 Sunday Punch photo page.
Other displays will include ORHPA Membership and product sales; Fred Heddelson, local life style artist of “Tenn-E-Scene;” the Secret City Store will have a booth with Oak Ridge souvenirs; Center for Oak Ridge Oral History will be taking names for future interviews; Oak Ridge Revitalization Effort will have information on the Guest House revitalization effort; Partnership for K-25
Preservation will have a model and a personal atomic items display.
ORHPA is a non-profit organization formed for the purposes of preventing further demolition of our historic structures and the loss of our unique history. The mission of ORHPA is to preserve Oak Ridge's history and its built environment and develop economic, education, and cultural resources for the benefit of present and future generations. For more information, please call 865- 481-0542.
Immediate Release: June 2, 2010