Women of the Manhattan Project

A group of women walk together during shift change at the Y-12 uranium enrichment facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during the Manhattan Project. The notice on the billboard reads: "Make CEW count — Continue to protect project information.”

US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY/ED WESCOTT

 

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With thousands of men serving overseas during World War II, women filled jobs in record numbers on the home front including at the Manhattan Project. Women worked as nurses, teachers, librarians, food-service workers, and secretaries. They also worked in traditionally male-dominated industries such as welding and on the assembly lines building war equipment. A limited number of women worked as scientists and technicians across bigger and smaller Manhattan Project sites. There were also women outside the Manhattan Project whose lives became intertwined with the science that fueled the project or the legacies that followed. Scroll down to learn about these women. 

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