Overview
The Manhattan Project marked one of the most transformative events in world history: the development of the atomic bombs that ended World War II and set the stage for the Cold War. While the initiative’s early focus was weapons based, additional applications for nuclear energy were later developed, leading to advances in the newly-emergent fields of chemotherapy, high-speed computer technology, genomics, and bioengineering.
National Significance
The Manhattan Project’s three primary sites – Los Alamos, NM; Hanford, WA; and Oak Ridge, TN – speak eloquently to the project’s enormous scale and the frantic, round-the-clock effort required to create an atomic weapon ahead of the enemy. These three locations were central to the mission of the Manhattan Project, and have been selected by the National Park Service as historic sites that would comprise the proposed Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
Campaign Goals
- Partner with the Department of Energy and local officials to establish the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
Ways To Help
Encourage your members of Congress to co-sponsor legislation that would create the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
Donate to our campaign to protect Manhattan Project sites.
Tell us why Manhattan Project sites matter to you.
Prepared by Nancy Tinker, Project Manager
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved by unanimous consent H.R. 1208, a bipartisan bill introduced by Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04), Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03) and Congressman Ben Lujan (NM-03) to establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that will include facilities at Hanford, Washington, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Manhattan Project was an unprecedented top-secret program to produce an atomic bomb before Nazi Germany. The action by the Committee makes the bill eligible for consideration by the full House.
“Today the Manhattan Project National Historic Park is one step closer to becoming a reality. This has been a long process and I’m grateful to the community leaders and advocates who have worked tirelessly on its behalf. I’m committed to bringing the bill to the House floor this Congress and working with the Senate to get it signed into law. These facilities have an important, interesting, and historic story to tell and this bill would ensure that their doors remain open to visitors for years to come,” said Committee Chairman Hastings.
Under the bill, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park would be established as a unit of the National Park System within one year. The bill specifies the facilities and areas at each of the three locations that are eligible for inclusion in the Park. Nearly all of these facilities and areas are already owned by the federal government and under the purview of the Department of Energy. The legislation requires coordination, planning and cooperation between the Park Service and the Department of Energy to ensure safe and secure access to these locations.
The establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park is supported by the Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, and the National Park Service. Similar legislation, S. 507 has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) with Senators Lamar Alexander (TN), Martin Heinrich (NM), Patty Murray (WA) and Tom Udall (NM) cosponsoring the legislation.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved by unanimous consent H.R. 1208, a bipartisan bill introduced by Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04), Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03) and Congressman Ben Lujan (NM-03) to establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that will include facilities at Hanford, Washington, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Manhattan Project was an unprecedented top-secret program to produce an atomic bomb before Nazi Germany. The action by the Committee makes the bill eligible for consideration by the full House.
“Today the Manhattan Project National Historic Park is one step closer to becoming a reality. This has been a long process and I’m grateful to the community leaders and advocates who have worked tirelessly on its behalf. I’m committed to bringing the bill to the House floor this Congress and working with the Senate to get it signed into law. These facilities have an important, interesting, and historic story to tell and this bill would ensure that their doors remain open to visitors for years to come,” said Committee Chairman Hastings.
Under the bill, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park would be established as a unit of the National Park System within one year. The bill specifies the facilities and areas at each of the three locations that are eligible for inclusion in the Park. Nearly all of these facilities and areas are already owned by the federal government and under the purview of the Department of Energy. The legislation requires coordination, planning and cooperation between the Park Service and the Department of Energy to ensure safe and secure access to these locations.
The establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park is supported by the Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, and the National Park Service.
Similar legislation, S. 507 has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) with Senators Lamar Alexander (TN), Martin Heinrich (NM), Patty Murray (WA) and Tom Udall (NM) cosponsoring the legislation.
Learn more about the Manhattan Project, a top-secret government operation during World War II, by touring a street named Bathtub Row in Los Alamos, NM. As a part of the Manhattan Project's three primary sites in Hanford, Wash.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and Los Alamos, N.M. - Bathtub Row is sure to be an educational adventure.
Written by Nancy Tinker, Project Manager
Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation held a legislative hearing on H.R. 1208, the "Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act" - bipartisan legislation by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04), Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03), and Congressman Ben Luján (NM-03) that would establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park and include facilities in Hanford, Washington, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.
"The Representatives and Senators of both parties who are working together on this legislation are very committed to advancing this historical park into law - though even our passion for establishing the park is exceeded by that of the volunteers and local leaders in the three Manhattan Project communities and others across the nation. We were fortunate to have a representative from each of the three communities testify at last year's hearing, and we are fortunate to have similar representation today," said Chairman Hastings. "There are many historical, economic and tourism development organizations in each of the communities that have helped lead the way in preserving this piece of our nation's history. They are doing a tremendous job communicating the important role this park can play in telling the story of efforts during the Second World War to accomplish an unprecedented, and many thought, impossible, industrial and scientific achievement - to construct a nuclear weapon and counter threats of similar development by Nazi Germany." Follow this link to access further coverage on today's legislative hearing:
http://naturalresources.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=328721
It’s hard to imagine an entire city [Oak Ridge] existing in secret. 60,000 acres set aside for one, top-secret purpose. A discovery so huge it could end a World War. It’s hard to imagine – but it’s true.