Original item: Only One Available. This is a great grouping consisting of the Telephone Directory for Clinton Engineer Works, the production installation of the Manhattan Project that during World War II produced the enriched uranium used in the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, as well as the first examples of reactor-produced plutonium, and a genuine bronze MANHATTAN PROJECT pin that was given to the workers who spent less than one year on the project. A sterling silver pin would be awarded to workers who spent over one year on the project.

The directory is in good condition, measuring 6¾ x 10”, with all 48 pages retained. The front bears RESTRICTED over SILENCE MEANS SECURITY. It is dated to September 1944, and on the interior is a separate page denoting that on September 9th, 1944, all phone numbers in the Townsite area would be changed. A great addition. We haven’t been able to find many other examples of this directory, making it a very scarce offering. The only issue is that there is some bending in the book, but nothing serious.

The pin is similarly in good shape, with a partially bright finish. The design has a big "A" in the middle, for "Atomic." The castle shown on the bottom is the symbol for the Army Corps of Engineers. For this reason, the project's administrative headquarters building in Oak Ridge was known as the castle.

The pin is in very good condition with a working pin and catch. It is nicely marked on the reverse with W & H CO. for Whitehead & Hoag Company, the maker of these pins. The pin measures 11/16” round, and has a lovely patina.

This is a tremendous group of items relating to the Manhattan Project, ready for further research and display!

The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory that designed the actual bombs. The Army component of the project was designated the Manhattan District; Manhattan gradually superseded the official codename, Development of Substitute Materials, for the entire project. Along the way, the project absorbed its earlier British counterpart, Tube Alloys. The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion (about $23 billion in 2018 dollars). Over 90% of the cost was for building factories and to produce fissile material, with less than 10% for development and production of the weapons. Research and production took place at more than 30 sites across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.