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Atomic City Women

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Atomic City Women
Underappreciated Aspects of Female Patriotism during World War II

Lindsey Tedder
February 28, 2018
American History 2: HIS 132:01

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II is a book written by Denise Kiernan and published by Simon and Schuster, Inc. in 2013. This nonfiction, paper-back book, describes the trials women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee endured while, unknowingly, contributing to the development of the first functional atomic bomb, throughout the 309 pages. Each woman had a different job that advanced the knowledge of uranium and led to the creation of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The book did a wonderful job of explaining and describing the experiences that each individual woman faced while working at the various plants at Clinton Engineer Works and living in the secret town of Oak Ridge.
The Girls of Atomic City focuses on the lives of nine women with …show more content…
However, women at this time also began to step out of being second class citizens and become more vocal about the rights they deserved. As a result of this, women gained the right to vote in 1920 and soon after, acquired a larger role in the United States government; some women took secretarial jobs and others became Senators or were Representative in Congress. In The Girls of Atomic City, women took jobs as chemists, physicist, statisticians, secretaries, inspectors, janitors, or cubical operators, with some taking jobs in higher positions than men.
The women of Oak Ridge were able to create the first functional atomic bomb, most of them without college degrees. This shows their determination and dedication to their jobs. Kattie, mentioned earlier, worked night and day, even working after she was taken to the hospital because she was sick, so she could provide not only for herself but also for her
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