“Natural Synergy,” A Photography Exhibit Celebrating the Impact of Naturalized Citizens on the Manhattan Project, Opens June 15

Maria Goeppert Mayer. Born June 28, 1906 in Kattowitz, German Empire. Naturalized March 13, 1933. Received Nobel Prize in 1963. Died February 20, 1972 in San Diego, California

News Release Date: June 8, 2017

Contact: Robbie Meyer, [phone]

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce will be hosting “Natural Synergy,” a photography exhibition focusing on some of Manhattan Project’s most prominent scientists who left their homeland to be become naturalized United States citizens. The month-long exhibit will open on Thursday, June 15, with a reception starting at 4:30 p.m. (ET). The photo exhibit is sponsored by the National Park Service, Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, and Explore Oak Ridge.  

Beginning in the 1930s, there was active persecution of religious minorities and political opponents. As a result, many leading scientists, philosophers, and academics fled to the west. A number of the refugees later joined the Manhattan Project, and the large number of refugees and immigrants working on the Manhattan Project gave the American nuclear program an international character unusual in such a top-secret program.

The “Natural Synergy” photography exhibit opens the day before a naturalization ceremony for new United States citizens on Friday, June 16, 2017, that is hosted by the National Park Service and United States Citizenship and Immigration Service. The ceremony is open to the public and starts at 10:30 a.m. at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is located at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike. For more information, please call Manhattan Project National Historical Park at (865) 567-676.