discussion page

So, how are you enjoying things in Oak Ridge, TN, so far? Interesting to learn right off the bat that apparently the US Army obtained the land to develop the town of Oak Ridge via imminent domain, as the story opens with June’s alcoholic grandfather Jericho having to leave his land and move in with June’s family. As the granddaughter of folks who were raised in the mountains in Lee County, KY, hearing of the government coming in and taking over land raises some long-buried sense of distrust in my blood. What do you think it would be like to have a government agency come into your life, tell you they are going to take your land and this is what you will be paid for it?

Young June Walker appears to be one of our main characters, and a lot happens in the two years we quickly move through in her life before she gets to Oak Ridge. We discover that she was engaged to neighbor Ronnie Lawson, who enlists right after high school and is killed in action in France a short while later. June feels a sense of guilt in her relief that marriage to Ronnie won’t be her fate; can you explain why she feels this way? How does it make you feel about June? In this section of reading June is still trying to settle in her new job and get used to living away from home. And what an unusual job it is—no explanation for the simple, repetitive tasks she’s doing, and there are serious security rules regarding the work. Could you handle such mindless, repetitive work? Can you imagine people today being willing to do a job without knowing what it is they’re doing? Or being unable to talk about your work…at all? (Unless, of course, you’re going to work for an intelligence agency of some sort). Why do you think June and the others were willing to take it on?

Dr. Sam Cantor, a physicist from Princeton, is another new arrival in the growing community. Dr. Cantor seems significantly more sophisticated and obviously has a clear understanding of the work going on at Oak Ridge, although he does seem shocked by his living arrangements. If you remember, the building company representative listening to Sam’s complaints of having to stay in a cramped, overcrowded dormitory promised to remedy the situation as soon as possible, but ends their conversation with the comment, “We have better men than you, Dr. Cantor, living in an Army barracks in far more godforsaken spots than Oak Ridge”. Did you notice this comment? What do you think the building manager was implying? What is your opinion of Sam at this point in the story?

Next, we meet the people handling the actual building of this new community, Joe, Ralph, and the other African-American men working a labor gang and relegated to living in crowded plywood huts in the swampy area of Oak Ridge. (Dr. Cantor was surprised to see the signs of segregation in Oak Ridge; were you?) Joe is an appealing character to me so far; I like him already. I thought the concept of being “…charitable to all men but don’t trust any of them” that Joe’s father instilled in him was intriguing; what does it mean to you? Joe and Ralph seem to have a father-son bond of sorts, including some of the tension that comes in a family relationship. Joe seems concerned about Ralph’s anger and what it might lead to, and he worries about Ralph reading of the riots that had occurred the year before across the US. Why do you think Joe has these concerns? One of the US cities dealing with riots in 1943 was Detroit, and you can learn more about that event from this web page created by Wayne State University’s Reuther Library.  I found it compelling to learn of young Ralph’s interest in joining the Colored Camp Council and discovering that Ralph wore a double V pin.  The Double V campaign was not something I was aware of before reading this section. If you are in the same situation, you can learn a little bit more about it from this New York Public Library educational  blog post.

Finally, we learn a little bit more about Cici, June’s elegant and sophisticated roommate who appears to be hiding behind quite the façade. Once you learn Cici’s backstory, what do you think of her? Cici’s philosophy “…that money (or at least the illusion of money) attracted more money” is shared in this section. What are your feelings about that idea?

Throughout this section reading and indeed throughout the book, the author has incorporated many historical photographs. I enjoy seeing the images but I can’t decide if they are distracting or not; at this point I think I may have enjoyed them more in a separate section at the end of the book. How about you?

If what we’ve read so far makes you crave more background, a non-fiction book written by journalist/author Denise Kiernan titled The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of The Women Who Helped Win World War II was published in 2015. MADL does own copies that you can request via the online catalog.  I also found this interesting clip from CSPAN of an extended interview with author Kiernan about her research that you might enjoy: 

I hope you will check back next week as we read through chapters 7 – 13. I have enjoyed looking at the list of recommended music that author Janet Beard provides at the end of the book and thought I would leave you with a musical selection that the author suggests might have been enjoyed at June’s family home. I picked this particular tune as a nod to my family’s Kentucky roots as well. Here for your listening pleasure is Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys performing Rocky Road Blues: 

I’m looking forward to hearing from you in the comments section!

It’s Christmas 1944, and author Janet Beard seems to be digging deep into the twin themes of home and family. June gets a chance to spend the day at home with her sister Mary and Mary’s new boyfriend, and the trip there takes them by a neighbor’s house, where she sees fellow schoolmate Ollie, former fiancé Ronnie’s best friend, home from his war experience with an amputated leg. June is relieved, then feels guilty, when she starts to cry as the talk to turns to Ronnie’s death. Why do you think June has those feelings? Can you empathize with June?

Christmas 1944 is a tough one for Joe as well, as he receives word from his wife Moriah that their son is gravely ill. I felt sympathy and admiration for Joe, especially as he considers the heavy commitment of being a parent—that he felt a love he’d never felt before but also a “…suffocating weight”, where he feels he can never do enough for his children. Why do you think Joe feels that way? How does it make you feel about Joe? I loved that Ralph understood Joe’s worry and offered his support in Joe’s vow to never miss another Christmas at home. Again, these two are still my favorites in this story. Especially as Joe attends another meeting of the Colored Camp Council and begins to understand what Ralph sees in the strong, intelligent Shirley, as she employs her savvy negotiating skills to help the Council as it plans to address grievances with the living conditions, unequal pay and other racial discrimination issues the African-Americans at Y-12 are experiencing.

1945 sees Dr. Sam seeming to suffer a significant bout of depression, and his serious drinking does not seem to helping the issue. Sam is thinking that with the tide in the war turning in the Allies’ favor that development of an atomic bomb will not seem so urgent. He doesn’t agree with other scientists’ theory that an atomic bomb will bring about the end of all future war. Sam believes there will always be war—that humanity won’t ever give up its destructiveness. What do you think of Sam’s belief? Do you think it’s affecting his mental health?  Sam also doesn’t understand how the young women working at Y-12 in Oak Ridge appear to be so carefree and happy, flirting and dancing. When his housemate Ann explains that all the activity makes the young people feel alive in the face of all the war’s death, he dismisses her answer. What do you think Ann is trying to say to Sam? Who do you agree with—Ann or Sam?

Did the story shared by the moonshine supplier about “local prophet” John Hendrix, who supposedly foresaw the creation of Oak Ridge, TN and the Y-12 Laboratory, happen to jump out at you? I had never heard that story before and wondered if it was true. Lo and behold, it is a local legend and there is a fascinating article about in the November 2016 issue of Tennessee Magazine. 

Sam and June start to build their relationship in this reading section as well, after a sudden New Year’s Eve kiss. This relationship seems to be moving along very rapidly and makes me think of memories my mom, who was attending the University of Kentucky in 1940-1943, used to share about her wartime experiences. She talked about a sense of time slipping away and the future being so uncertain that people rushed into relationships and marriages before men were shipped out to war, and that the traditional social conventions that had been in place up to this point were viewed as constraining and pointless. My mom compared her experience of the time as sort of an extended adrenalin rush. Sam even blows off the extreme security concerns of the project and starts sharing some pretty significant details with June about the work at Y-12, including the fact that an atomic bomb was being created. Sam even vents his frustration that the enormous governmental effort and resources going into the bomb creation would never get put to use in peacetime to cure a disease or advance human knowledge. Do you understand Sam’s frustration? How do you feel about the situation today—have things changed or stayed the same?

I am experiencing some feelings of uneasiness about June & Sam’s relationship, considering their age and education gaps, not to mention their extremely different life experiences and religious upbringing. We’ve all heard that opposites attract, but do you think there is a basis for a stable relationship between these two? Sam himself seems surprised at how strongly he feels about June, and but also acknowledges that he enjoys playing the sophisticated teacher and that it gives him a sense of power. And housemate Ann is concerned that June couldn’t possibly be up to the task of being an academic’s wife, along with the fact that she is young, naïve, and liable to be greatly hurt when, as Ann expects, the relationship ends. June can’t even imagine Sam meeting her folks, and she’s not sure she likes Sam’s sarcasm about things he despises, but they do seem to connect and share deeply felt worries and dreams. Do you foresee any troubles for June in this relationship? Do you feel Ann’s concerns are legitimate? Is Sam being honest with himself? Do you see any comparisons between the relationships of June & Sam and Ralph & Shirley?

For me, it seems that Cici is the weakest character in this story—we don’t seem to really learn much more about her except that she’s continuing to operate behind her façade of sophistication and isn’t really pleasant to anyone except the men she feels might be able to offer her a better life. Even Sam seems to grasp that she’s masquerading and he doesn’t like the way she treats June. In this section we see Cici connecting with what she considers a potential suitable man in a completely cynical manner. Do you feel the same way about Cici or is there more here than I’m picking up? What is the relationship between June and Cici?

Finally, this section of reading ends with the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on April 25, 1945. After being the President for an unprecedented four terms, the loss is deeply felt by the characters in this book. I have always felt sad that the two US Presidents who dealt with two of America’s most difficult wars, FDR and Abraham Lincoln, both passed right at the end of those conflicts. To take us back in time to April 1945, here is a film clip from the National Archives covering the funeral of President Roosevelt:

I hope you will check back next week as we read through chapters 14 – 19. I thought I would leave you with another musical selection from author Beard’s recommendations that might have been might have been heard on the breeze at Oak Ridge in 1945. Here is Billie Holiday singing Lover Man:

I’m looking forward to hearing from you in the comments section!

Good news for Joe Brewer and his family—he’s getting a promotion of sorts as a janitor and Moriah and the kids can join him! Moriah is even going to be offered a job. However, the situation is obviously still ridiculous—the family doesn’t get assigned a house but instead have to stay in one of the offensive plywood hutments. And it was just a month earlier that the rules changed at Oak Ridge, and African-American families were even allowed to live together. This situation really is intolerable; I totally get why Ralph is so interested in working with the Colored Camp Council and attempting to attend union meetings that are for whites only. Meanwhile, Joe considers the fact that with both he and Moriah working, they make more in a year in Oak Ridge than they could make in 3 years back home in Alabama. Joe and Ralph are experiencing tension in their relationship about Ralph’s activism. It makes total sense to me when Ralph says “We got to stop acting like we lucky when we’re being treated like animals. …We’re doing our part for this country, and what’s this country doing for us?”, but I also hear Joe saying everyone still working at Y-12 should consider themselves fortunate to have jobs now that the construction work is done. What life experiences do you think Ralph and Joe each bring to the table regarding the struggle for equality? Can you understand and/or empathize with the different approach each man is taking to survive in this inequitable situation? It’s so upsetting that Ralph goes missing at the end of this section--what do you think happened to him?

If you’d like a little more background on the African-American experience at Oak Ridge, you might want to visit this page from the Manhattan Project National Historic Park’s website. There’s an additional fascinating and extensive study of African-American involvement in the Manhattan project at the Oak Ridge and Los Alamos sites that was prepared by the National Park Service and also made available on the same website. It is a lengthy report, but I recommend it. (Who knew there was even a National Historic Park for the Manhattan Project—love it when I learn something new from book club!) I thought I’d also share a brief video that the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper put together this past February 2020 about the segregation and racial injustice in place at Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project:

Two big historic events happen in this part of the book. The first occurs on May 8, 1945—victory in Europe! The Germans have surrendered. To get a sense of how this event was being processed at the time you might enjoy this National Archives newsreel film posted on YouTube by the American Battle Monuments Commission:

Dr. Sam seems to have a numb reaction to this war news, compared to the jubilation displayed by everyone else. June thinks Sam is thinking that there is no longer a race with Germany to create an atomic bomb—that Japan is now the target. Do you agree with June? If you don’t, why do you think Sam is reacting so differently to the news?

On July 16, 1945, the “Trinity” test atomic bomb was detonated by the Los Alamos scientists at the U.S. Air Force base at Alamogordo, NM, and the Atomic Age began. Even with hindsight, I can’t even begin to fathom an atomic bomb being tested on U.S. soil, can you? Science was aware at the time of the danger of radiation exposure and accidents did happen during the Manhattan Project, as this somewhat graphic March 2018 Discover Magazine article explains. There’s another riveting article published in Popular Science magazine in May 2017 that discusses the July 1945 New Mexico atomic bomb test and its effect on the local population that continues to this day.

The outcome of the Trinity test certainly had amazingly different impacts on the scientists in this book, didn’t it? Charlie and Sam suddenly seem to have a change of heart. When Sam questions Charlie about what their work means, Charlie’s response is that they have “Created a monster, I suppose”. The two men discuss signing a petition started amongst the Manhattan Project scientists at Los Alamos to try and convince President Truman to give Japan a public warning about the bomb’s deadly capabilities in the hopes the country might surrender and negate the need for the U.S. to use it. Why do you think the two men feel this way? What changed for them? On the other hand, Sam’s British scientist friend, Max, isn’t interested in the petition but feels the bomb is justified to end the war, asking Sam “Why did you work so hard on something you’ve now decided shouldn’t be used for its intended purpose?” What do you think Sam’s answer might be? You can view an image of the actual petition from the real project scientists that President Truman received at the National Archives’ Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum website.

The rapid developments in the war’s progress and in the careers of Sam and June seem to be having quite the impact on their relationship as well. Sam gets promoted into a more administrative position and uses his influence to get June the job as his secretary—what did you think about how that whole setup was handled? Did it change your feelings about either character? Sam seems to be spiraling deeper and deeper into depression and alcoholism. June asks herself that if you truly love someone, can you be happy if they aren’t? In your experience, what is the answer to that question? From the disastrous Gatlinburg trip to the couple’s screaming public argument where June accidentally reveals that she knows about the bomb, things appear to be going downhill quickly. I feel June isn’t able to understand Sam’s obsession with the death and tragedy of the war, while Sam in turns seems to think she isn’t smart enough to comprehend all the death and destruction the way he does. Why do you think the war impacts June and Sam so differently? At this point in the relationship, do you have any advice for these two?

Finally, my disappointment with the character of Cici continues with this section of the book. Her relationship with Tom seems to solidify with his sudden marriage proposal after his longtime friend is injured in battle, and her deceitful ways continue as she plots how to respond to that passive-aggressive letter from her future mother-in-law. We are exposed to Cici’s anti-Semitism, which June responds to with a satisfying (for me, at least) slap to Cici’s face. Intense feelings of dismay came over me as Cici overhears June’s public acknowledgement that she knows about the bomb and then harasses Joe Brewer as to whether he heard June’s comment in passing. (Surprise—Cici’s a racist as well). How do you think Cici is going to use that knowledge? I understand the roll of Cici’s character to be the negative foil in order to move the overall plot along, but I wish the author had given us a little more backstory to help us understand Cici’s emotional development. Do you agree or disagree? Why do you think Cici is behaving this way?

I hope you will check back next week as we finish the book, reading through chapters 20 – Epilogue. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section!

It’s week 5 and we’ve come to the end of The Atomic City Girls. We have also come to the end of World War II, as the US drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima first, then Nagasaki. Japan’s surrender will follow. Everyone’s reactions to this historic event are interesting, don’t you think? The Oak Ridge scientists are told the news in a group meeting, and while there is some cheering, Sam is devastated. His first thoughts go immediately to the victims and what the aftermath must be like in the bombed city. Why do you think Sam’s reaction is markedly different from his colleagues?

June initially joins in the workers’ celebrations as the news spreads about the bomb, as everyone walks off their job at the news to get home to family and friends. She feels some guilt about not trying to connect with Sam, but actually doesn’t want the excitement of the moment to be ruined by his melancholy. When June finally does seek Sam out, she comes to the realization that their relationship is over (even though things carry on as usual for a few more days). Why do you think June realizes that the affair has ended? Do you think Sam feels the same way?

Cici’s reaction to the celebratory chaos at Oak Ridge is to finally report June to the Security Division for mentioning the bomb previously in public—an action Cici convinces herself is her “…duty, plain and simple”. Why do you think Cici decides to report June, especially now when everyone at Oak Ridge knows they were working on a bomb? How does this make you feel about Cici?

Security personnel finally come for June, and she attempts to bluff her way through the questioning until they bring Joe Brewer in and start harassing him about what he saw on the night June blurted out about the bomb. Why do you think June finally tells the truth? Was it worth losing her job over? June and Sam meet one last time before she leaves for home, and she learns Sam quit his job as well. Why do you think the relationship between June and Sam ended so anticlimactically? How would you compare it to the end of their jobs at Oak Ridge? What did you think about June’s first job interview at the University of Tennessee?

Joe gets treated in a truly horrendous manner during June’s questioning, and then at the end the Security official suddenly and brusquely tells him what’s happened to Ralph. Do you believe the Security official’s explanation? Why do you think Joe reacted to the information about Ralph by hitting a stranger at the rec hall? How do you feel about Shirley’s reaction to the news about Ralph? What do you think really happened?

If you’re looking for more background on the Hiroshima bombing, reporter John Hersey wrote a 30,000-word article for the August 31, 1946 edition of The New Yorker magazine, simply titled Hiroshima. Hersey reported on the exact experiences of 6 people living in Hiroshima, Japan, on the morning of August 6, 1945, in a riveting piece of journalism that broke the taboo maintained by the US government with the public in regards to what the aftermath of atomic war actually was in reality. The article was reprinted many times over and eventually published as a book, and many of us who were born late in the Baby Boomer generation or beyond may have had Hiroshima on a required reading list for school. Just this August, a new book has come out documenting Hersey’s reporting and the difficulties he encountered in getting his story back to the US and then published. The new book, by Lesley Blume, is title Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World. Both Hiroshima and Fallout are owned by MADL and available to borrow via the online catalog.

Author Janet Beard wraps up everyone’s life in the epilogue. Did anyone’s outcome surprise you? What did you think about Cici considering her dysfunctional life and family a success? How did you feel about the life choices Joe’s children made? How did you react to Sam’s realization that June was the only woman he had ever been in love with? What did you think about June’s understanding that she couldn’t promise her son “…that humanity wouldn’t destroy itself. But she had to teach him to believe it, just as she had taught herself in order to get through life.” Seventy-five years later, do you agree with June’s belief?

What I always like to ask at book club, whether online or in person, is: did you enjoy the book? Overall, I did enjoy The Atomic City Girls, although I think I enjoyed the historical facts of the story more than the character development. When I read the author interview at the end of the book, I kind of felt that was Janet Beard’s interest as well; that she had found out about the fascinating backstory of Oak Ridge and set a story in it. Do you agree? If you are interested in learning more about the author, you can visit Janet Beard’s personal website. Also, on the author’s website is a recording of a 2019 talk she gave at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California about the hidden history of women in the Manhattan Project. Finally, there’s a good interview with Beard that was published in the January 23, 2018 edition of the Blount County, TN , newspaper The Daily Times.

One facet I enjoyed about this book was the diverging opinions and tensions amongst the scientists that worked on the atom bomb project. It reminds me of a movie that came out last year starring Judy Dench, titled Red Joan. The movie is a fictional retelling of a true event: a young Cambridge student works with Britain’s atom bomb project in the 1940s and secretly shared information with the Soviets, but wasn’t arrested until years later when she’s retired. Joan’s reasoning for sharing the information might not be what you suspect, and here’s the official trailer for the film to further pique your interest:

Just FYI, MADL owns Red Joan on both DVD and Blu-ray for your viewing pleasure. Visit MADL’s online catalog to request a copy.

Don’t forget, there will also be a live Zoom book group discussion on Tuesday, September 1 at 6:00PM for The Atomic City Girls. Register on the madl.org calendar to attend this Zoom event. MADL will send you a reminder email as well once you’ve registered. Hope to see you there!

Thanks for joining the MADL Online Book Club for The Atomic City Girls! Don’t forget to leave a comment to let me know how you enjoyed the book. Mark your calendar for September’s MADL hoopla Online Book Club when we will be reading the novel Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section!