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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

National Support for Manhattan Project Park

The B Reactor at Hanford

The proposed Manhattan Project National Historical Park has garnered a great deal of attention by the national press.   

On December 7, The Boston Globe published a strong editorial urging Congress to pass the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act. The editorial argues, “The Manhattan Project that created the first atomic bomb was a great success — and, in the eyes of many, a cautionary tale about the dangers of technological proliferation. The best way to forget such complicated lessons of the past is to pretend they never happened. Members of the US House of Representatives who voted down a proposed national park that would preserve and link together sites in three states involved with creating the atomic bomb ought not to forget that insight.

“Representative Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, and others argued that any official recognition of the places where the Manhattan Project did its work would be celebrating violence and nuclear destruction. But this argument is shortsighted…The questions that could be raised at the proposed Manhattan Project National Park are exactly the ethical quandaries that contemporary students — and lawmakers — should be confronting.

“Proponents of the bill intend to bring it up for a vote again, maybe even by the end of the year. They should, and the House shouldn’t make the same mistake twice.”

On December 16, the Seattle Times published a powerful op-ed by Clarence Moriwaki, president of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association. His grandfather and several other family members were killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Moriwaki argues, “Some believe a Manhattan Project National Historic Park would glorify nuclear warfare. As someone who lost family because of the atomic bomb, I agree that there is no glory in the first and only use of atomic weapons. However, the Manhattan Project is an important chapter of American history, and I believe we should recount all parts of our heritage, even the painful moments. We cannot rewrite history — nor should we cast blame, guilt or shame. But we cannot sweep historic events under the rug either.”

He concludes, “The Park Service has done an extraordinary job to share the sad American chapter of Japanese American incarceration. If authorized by Congress, I believe it would do the same to tell the complex history of the Manhattan Project that created the world’s first two atomic bombs.”

A December 6 International Business Tribune article asked, “What do we do with our inconvenient histories? Do we bury them, or do we memorialize them as a way of learning and moving on? That is the question now in front of Congress, which must decide whether or not to create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park.” AHF President Cindy Kelly is quoted in the piece, explaining the significance of the Manhattan Project: “This Manhattan Project history shows very clearly the nexus of the realms of science and humanities and that we need, as a nation, to increase our science literacy.” The article quoted Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar making a statement in support of the park: “The secret development of the atomic bomb in multiple locations across the United States is an important story and one of the most transformative events in our nation’s history. The Manhattan Project ushered in the atomic age, changed the role of the United States in the world community and set the stage for the Cold War.” Jonathan Jarvis, the director of the National Park Service, declared, “The National Park Service will be proud to interpret these Manhattan Project sites and unlock their stories in the years ahead.”

Kelly is also quoted in an article that appeared in the news section of the History Channel, “Congress Debates Manhattan Project National Park,” discussing the merits of establishing a park.

We are pleased to see the media paying such close attention to the status of the Manhattan Project Park and taking such a keen interest in the history of the Manhattan Project. We remain guardedly optimistic that the Park bill will pass through the 112th Congress.