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City Behind A Fence: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1942-1946
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was created by the U.S. government during World War II to aid in the construction of the first atomic bomb. Drawing on oral history and previously classified material, this book portrays the patterns of daily life in this unique setting.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 15, 2013
As someone who grew up in Oak Ridge, I was amazed at how much I didn't know about the place. The pictures were great additions and I liked the way the book was broken up into sections. Some parts were more interesting than others, but I think that was just my personal preference. The personal stories at the end were a nice touch too.
August 31, 2019
If you want to learn about the economics of a Manhattan Project town (which are actually quite interesting), this is a great place to start.
But, like other reviewers have stated, it’s largely a dry recitation of facts. I enjoyed it more because the authors were clearly authoritative on the topic. And it gave me a peek into the Manhattan Project from an unexpected angle.
However, there were some topics that were touched on incredibly repetitively (segregation and overpopulation), and some that weren’t touched on nearly enough (the duties of people working in the plants, who knew what).
The authors let their personal biases shine through slightly too much for my taste. In places, it also felt like a series of short essays that had been patched together, leading to a lot of redundancy.
If you’re an economist or want to learn about this specific town, I would recommend this book, but be prepared to skim some parts.
But, like other reviewers have stated, it’s largely a dry recitation of facts. I enjoyed it more because the authors were clearly authoritative on the topic. And it gave me a peek into the Manhattan Project from an unexpected angle.
However, there were some topics that were touched on incredibly repetitively (segregation and overpopulation), and some that weren’t touched on nearly enough (the duties of people working in the plants, who knew what).
The authors let their personal biases shine through slightly too much for my taste. In places, it also felt like a series of short essays that had been patched together, leading to a lot of redundancy.
If you’re an economist or want to learn about this specific town, I would recommend this book, but be prepared to skim some parts.
September 7, 2011
This was a rather dry, academic account of what has the makings of an incredible story about a little-known chapter of American history.
As part of the Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge was a city veiled in mystery. It sprung up out of the Tennessee soil as swiftly as the government agents divested the indigenous farmers of their land. It stretched for miles, cradled in the valley of a natural fortress of mountains.
It boasted, in it's heyday, the highest concentration of PhDs in the world and a school system where every teacher had at least a masters degree. It became the first city in the south to peacefully desegregate and was unique in the fact that not one of it's citizens were land owners. It gave it's citizens a privileged access to items that outsiders couldn't get due to war rationing and no one within its boundaries paid a cent of local taxes. No one said a word about what they were working on, either, that is, if they even knew, themselves. "What you do here, what you see here, let it stay here." was pasted in plain view throughout the town. Residents were sworn to secrecy by the government, under penalty of treason. The town didn't even exist on a map.
My own grandfather worked on Oak Ridge. He seldom said much about it and when he did, it was only as simple as "that is where they built the bomb." Of course, he meant the atomic bomb, "Big Boy", the US dropped on Hiroshima. Technically, Oak Ridge was the place where they rendered the uranium they needed for the making of the bomb. It was one face of the Manhattan Project's "trinity" that included: Hanford, WA; White Plains, NM and Oak Ridge, TN.
To know my mother and her parents once lived in the secret city made it worth the read, however dull it was. The epilogue was more interesting than the rest of the book as it had accounts from former residents and others affected by the "atomic city". I'd still recommend it, if you have an interest in WWII or the atomic age.
As part of the Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge was a city veiled in mystery. It sprung up out of the Tennessee soil as swiftly as the government agents divested the indigenous farmers of their land. It stretched for miles, cradled in the valley of a natural fortress of mountains.
It boasted, in it's heyday, the highest concentration of PhDs in the world and a school system where every teacher had at least a masters degree. It became the first city in the south to peacefully desegregate and was unique in the fact that not one of it's citizens were land owners. It gave it's citizens a privileged access to items that outsiders couldn't get due to war rationing and no one within its boundaries paid a cent of local taxes. No one said a word about what they were working on, either, that is, if they even knew, themselves. "What you do here, what you see here, let it stay here." was pasted in plain view throughout the town. Residents were sworn to secrecy by the government, under penalty of treason. The town didn't even exist on a map.
My own grandfather worked on Oak Ridge. He seldom said much about it and when he did, it was only as simple as "that is where they built the bomb." Of course, he meant the atomic bomb, "Big Boy", the US dropped on Hiroshima. Technically, Oak Ridge was the place where they rendered the uranium they needed for the making of the bomb. It was one face of the Manhattan Project's "trinity" that included: Hanford, WA; White Plains, NM and Oak Ridge, TN.
To know my mother and her parents once lived in the secret city made it worth the read, however dull it was. The epilogue was more interesting than the rest of the book as it had accounts from former residents and others affected by the "atomic city". I'd still recommend it, if you have an interest in WWII or the atomic age.
July 8, 2021
Not outstanding narrative nonfiction, but very readable and extremely interesting, especially for someone with roots in east Tennessee. I had aunts, uncles, and cousins who lived in Oak Ridge after WWII and visited them regularly. Even as a child I was fascinated by the slightly eerie look and feel of the area with its miles of chainlink fences and rows of large, plain, dormitory-like buildings. This book was published by UT Press in 1981, written by two history professors. Their generally honest evaluation of the social, economic, and political birth and growth of Oak Ridge helps make this book seem relevant still, with the regrettable treatment of Black Oak Ridge residents as a prime example. The Army continuously claimed that Oak Ridge was not a social experiment, but these researchers/reporters help clarify that it actually turned out to be one. Good book.
February 2, 2015
And while star ratings don't do a lot for me, I wish there were a 3.5 in there. The writing in this was excellent...it flowed beautifully, and read quickly. I realized, though, as I was about 2/3 of the way through, it was simply giving me, in many sections, huge quantities of numbers in literary form.
I also wish there were more interviews with people who'd lived there, beyond the six that come almost as an addendum. That was my favorite section of the book. The logistics of creating a town from scratch, not even to mention the goings on of the Manhattan Project, were most interesting to me. I wish there were more from those displaced, and more from those who lived through the founding and building of the town. The book was published in the early 80's....many of the people who lived in Oak Ridge during that time would have been alive.
Picked this one up after visiting Oak Ridge last week. Definitely worth a read if you're a World War II, American History or Tennessee History buff....
I also wish there were more interviews with people who'd lived there, beyond the six that come almost as an addendum. That was my favorite section of the book. The logistics of creating a town from scratch, not even to mention the goings on of the Manhattan Project, were most interesting to me. I wish there were more from those displaced, and more from those who lived through the founding and building of the town. The book was published in the early 80's....many of the people who lived in Oak Ridge during that time would have been alive.
Picked this one up after visiting Oak Ridge last week. Definitely worth a read if you're a World War II, American History or Tennessee History buff....
December 27, 2021
The history of Oak Ridge, TN, a city that was essentially built by the US military from the ground up for the sole purpose of developing the uranium and other materials for the first atomic bomb. I read it partly because I’m working on a story that involves building artficial cities, but also because I’ve driven by Oak Ridge probably a hundred times, but never knew its origins lay in the Manhattan Project. It’s written by two UT Knoxville professors, so it reads like an academic paper and gets bogged down in lots of exact numbers, but it’s an interestingly obscure slice of history.
March 31, 2022
My opinion of the book seems to match many of the other reviews: Interesting actual event in history... Not a particularly exciting read. There's lots of data given which can be interesting to know... This just wasn't a read one comes out of wanting to tell your friends and neighbors "you've got to read this thing".
June 14, 2022
This book covers the economics and community life of the unique town of Oak Ridge. The enrichment efforts demanded a huge workforce. While other “Atomic Cities” grew up in Los Alamos, NM and Hanford, WA, Oak Ridge was unique in size and organization. The book is an excellent exploration of the human element of the Manhattan Project.
June 18, 2018
Really interesting from a city planning perspective, but a bit dry for what is a fascinating topic.
September 19, 2024
Oak Ridge sounds like Wake Forest University
March 6, 2014
While very interesting this book was extremely dry. Mainly just statistics about population, construction and labor, with a few anecdotal stories from interviews with residents who lived on the reservation and displaced people for the surrounding area. My Grandmother actually lived there for awhile during war-time, so it was kind of fun to learn about the place.
January 10, 2016
An interesting account of how the "reservation" of Oak Ridge TN came into being during WWII so that the Army had production facilities for uranium and plutonium. The book emphasizes the sociological aspects rather than the scientific and examines how the Army attempted, some times more successfully than others, to create a "normal town" in the middle of a classified military operation.
February 5, 2009
This book is a wonderful psycho-social study of a community hidden from the rest of the world for a time.
February 18, 2013
Learned some things I didn't know about my hometown.
June 18, 2017
Reading this about my hometown while watching Manhattan on Netflix. It puts into perspective our 7th grade lessons in how to build a bomb shelter.
A good and readable research project.
A good and readable research project.
June 27, 2018
A very dry account of Oak Ridge, TN and the development of the atomic bomb,
April 9, 2019
Hard to finish due to lack of story woven around a lot of statistics.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews