Article

Growing Up in Richland

The young boys stand in a yard holding ribbons.
Three winners of a Ping Pong Championship.

US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Article written by Tim Harrington, Greta Helfenstein, and Ethan Ross

Before 1943 the population of Richland, Washington was a mere 250 people. By the end of 1945, it had exploded to 15,000 as the DuPont Company and the Manhattan Project took over the town. DuPont permitted only permanent white-collar Hanford employees to reside in its new, planned, community, making Richland essentially a segregated city. But to the children of Hanford workers, Richland was a wonderful place to grow up, providing everything a child could ask for.

An Idyllic Community

For those who grew up during the 1940s and 50s, life in the town DuPont dubbed “Richland Village” was idyllic. People who lived in Richland in the early years recall being excited to see new homes popping up across the empty landscape. Residents had healthy diets, including milk from nearby dairy farms, fruits and vegetables grown in local gardens, as well as meat and potatoes. It was common for residents to eat fish caught in the Columbia River and to pick and eat wild asparagus that grew along the river’s banks.

A unique culture was created in the schools of Richland as one resident later recalled. “The first thing that you did in any class, was you couldn’t tell [the class] what your dad did, but you could tell what state you were from.” Since most of the children who lived in Richland had moved there when their fathers were recruited to work at the Hanford Engineer Works, they often noticed sharp differences between living in Richland and their previous lives in other parts of the U.S. They also noted the quality of the schools in their community, both in the extensive number of programs and activities they offered and in the high-quality education. Former resident Foyann Vogler recalled that “the schools were extremely good. Even though we were crowded in the early days, the community was … a pretty educated community because many of them were scientists and all." Richland Villagers placed a high value on public education. “Every [school] bond...usually passed. They were really supportive, and they built really nice schools.”

Recreation

Central Washington experiences an annual average of three-hundred days of sunshine, which meant Richland families were able to swim and boat on the Columbia River and its tributaries for much of the year. Children might swim every day in the summer, whether in the river or at a public wading pool nearby in Howard Amon Park. As former Richland resident Trisha Pritikin recalls, children and their parents would boat upstream to swim around islands in the Columbia River just downstream from where the plutonium manufacturing plant was in full production. Many residents recalled feeling “warm spots” in the river. We now know that those warm spots were likely linked to water, used to cool the uranium slugs in the B Reactor, being pumped back into the Columbia River.

The number of stores and theaters in Richland grew throughout the 1940s with the Uptown Shopping Center, “one of the first car-oriented shopping malls constructed in the United States,” opening in Richland in 1949. The timing was serendipitous as gasoline rationing had recently ended following the end of WWII. Now, Richland Villagers could more freely drive their cars. The new retail development also gave residents the opportunity to shop in their hometown rather than having to go to the neighboring towns of Pasco or Kennewick.

Safety, Secrecy, and Conformity

The strict security regime at the Hanford site, maintained by the U.S. military and the FBI, provided a keen sense of safety for Richland residents. Leslie Blackwell, whose father worked at the B-Reactor, recalls “an FBI agent” living across the street “who just kept tabs on the neighborhood and did other things in town.” Residents also had another reason to feel secure during this time because the town was being monitored by health physicists. Doctors regularly reassured residents that the plutonium being produced at Hanford was safely contained at the site, and that plutonium production was less dangerous to their health than their own home appliances or medical x-rays.

In many households, doing important and specialized work would be a point of pride for the family and its place within the community. However, in Richland because of the heightened security, such “shop talk” simply did not take place. This secrecy was by design, as the expectation of absolute confidentiality that enveloped the area made its way into the family home. Sandra Lepinski recalls “[w]e were never allowed to ask Dad what he did – where he worked - hours of his work - anything.” Lepinski’s recollection was common among the children of the Hanford project, whose families simply kept any discussion of the project taboo.

Atomic Frontier Days

Patriotism and pride in the Manhattan Project kept residents working and living in Richland well after the end of WWII. Community events further bolstered morale and the sense of belonging. One such event, Atomic Frontier Days, had its beginnings in the period right after the Second World War. It was a celebration of the town that contributed to the dawn of the nuclear age and optimism for the new technology that the atomic age would bring, this time for peaceful uses.

“We’re Here to Stay” was the slogan proudly displayed on floats during the Atomic Frontier Days grand parade. A wide variety of activities, competitions, and events brought the residents of Richland and workers at Hanford together. Tennis and ping pong tournaments, a softball championship, kiddie races, and a grand air show in the village square were only the start. Watersport races for children, horseshoe and shooting competitions, and the Hole-in-One Golf tournament for adults, filled the celebration with family fun. Richland celebrated Atomic Frontier Days from 1948 though the mid 1960s.


Tags

Manhattan Project National Historical Park

Last updated: August 13, 2023