Oak Ridge Master Plan Collection

[Background information provided by Johnson Rare Books & Archives at time of purchase]

The preliminary and final master plan for the expansion of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, also known as Atomic City, a community built by the U.S. government under the cloak of secrecy beginning in 1942. Oak Ridge was built to house employees of the Atomic Energy Commission working on the Manhattan Project, the massive wartime effort that produced the world's first atomic weapons. These reports were acquired from the estate of William R. Ewald, Jr., who was a writer and researcher on this project for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It is presumed that the pencil annotations are in his hand. Initial estimates for Oak Ridge were 13,000 residents, but the population quickly grew to 45,000 by 1943. At its peak, more than 75,000 people lived in the community, including military leaders and scientists who oversaw the enrichment of uranium for Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. The master plan called for the creation of a new, still segregated, neighborhood for the African American community, which was expected to grow to 10 percent of the population. Neighborhood 10, which was later named Scarboro Village, was located below the turnpike on the far eastern edge of the city and included housing at a variety of income levels, as well as a new neighborhood elementary school, churches, and outdoor multi-purpose areas. The map in the draft plan had designated a nearby area for an African American park and picnic area, but this verbiage was not included in the final plan.