The Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge: An Historical Study of the Images of Photographer Ed Westcott

1. The Manhattan Project at Oak
Ridge: An Historical Study of
the Images of Photographer Ed
Westcott
Teresa S. Welsh, Ph.D.
University of Southern Mississippi
teresa.welsh@usm.edu

2. Purpose of the Study
• to document and
analyze Westcott
narratives related to
historic images of
Manhattan Project at
Oak Ridge, TN
• to provide historical
background and
context to the Westcott
images.
10/13/2022 QQML, Chania, Crete, Greece

3. Ed Westcott
• Official Army Corps of Engineers photographer, for
“Secret City” Oak Ridge TN, 1942-46
• Unofficial photojournalist for first Oak Ridge
newspaper, the Oak Ridge Journal
• Preserver of unique cultural and historical record
of “City Behind the Fence.”
– NARA (10,000 negatives)
– U.S. Dept. of Energy Photography Collection
– Oak Ridge Public Library Image Collection
– Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge
10/13/2022 QQML, Chania, Crete, Greece

5. Construction of K-25 Site, Oak Ridge, 1942.

6. Construction of Graphite Reactor, Oak Ridge, July 1943

7. Aerial Photo of Graphite Reactor, Oak Ridge, 1943.

8. Interior of the Graphite Reactor, X-10 Plant

9. Guard Checking a Car Trunk at Elza Gate, Oak Ridge.

10. Workers
at Y-12 Plant

11. Women Workers Leaving Y-12

12. Patriotic War Billboard, Oak Ridge.

13. Censored Photo of Amputee Soldier, K-25 Plant, Oak Ridge

14. J. Robert
Oppenheimer, Ph.D.,
Oak Ridge Guest House,
February 1946

15. General Leslie Groves, Washington, D.C., July 1945.

16. “War Ends” Photo, July 14, 1945

17. Girl Scouts on a Fieldtrip, X-10 Plant, 1951.

18. Eleanor Roosevelt, Oak Ridge Cancer Research Hospital, 1955.

19. Sen. & Mrs. John F. Kennedy at ORNL, 1959