During World War II, a top secret U.S. government research project known as the Manhattan Project produced the world’s first atomic bombs. To preserve the history of the Manhattan Project, the head of the project, General Leslie Groves, commissioned the creation of a work known as the Manhattan District History. This multi-volume work, once unavailable to the general public, was produced with the intent, “…to describe, in simple terms, easily understood by the average reader, just what the Manhattan District did, and how, when, and where.”
For those readers interested in exploring the details of the Manhattan Project, the Department of Energy’s Office of Classification and Office of History and Heritage Resources recently published full-text PDF versions of the 36 volume Manhattan District History work. These PDF sections of the historical work can be accessed through the Department of Energy’s OpenNet website and include declassified volumes in full as well as classified volumes that have been declassified with certain redactions. The 36 volumes of the Manhattan District History are divided into the following 8 books:
- Book I: General
- Book II: Gaseous Diffusion (K-25) Project
- Book III: The P-9 Project
- Book IV: Pile Project X-10
- Book V: Electromagnetic Project
- Book VI: Liquid Thermal Diffusion (S-50) Project – Secret Supplement
- Book VII: Feed Materials, Special Procurement, and Geographical Exploration
- Book VIII: Los Alamos Project (Y)
These 8 books of the Manhattan District History provide the average reader with, “… extensive annotations, statistical tables, charts, engineering drawings, maps, photographs, and detailed indices,” concerning the once secretive project.
For additional information about the history of Manhattan Project, make sure to check out the Department of Energy’s The Manhattan Project: An Interactive History site.
The HSDL’s Nuclear Weapons Featured Topic page also provides readers with resources concerning this topic (HSDL login required).
Article formerly posted at https://www.hsdl.org/blog/newpost/view/the-em-manhattan-district-history-em-full-text-now-available-online
