By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – In celebration of the 75^th anniversary of the Hanford Site, Washington State University Tri-Cities’ Hanford History Project will host and partner to offer several activities throughout the month of September that provide a glimpse into the unique history of Hanford and impact that it has had on the region, state and world.

“Hanford is a unique place with unique history,” said Robert Franklin, assistant director of the ���سԹ� Hanford History Project. “It is also a really complicated place with a complicated history, but that is what makes it interesting. It had a huge impact on the development of the city of Richland, and it had an impact on the rest of the world.”

Hanford is the location of the world’s first large-scale nuclear reactor, the B Reactor, which also made the plutonium for the “Fat Man” nuclear bomb that was detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki in 1945 during World War II. It led to the creation of a variety of scientific and engineering discoveries and development of technology. It is now the site of the one of the world’s largest nuclear cleanup efforts.

“This is a great opportunity to learn more about Hanford and its impact, especially on the regional Tri-Cities community,” Franklin said. “We want to make people more aware of just how accessible historical resources for Hanford are in our local community, and we want to bring that history to our community.”

“People of the Manhattan Project: Building an Atomic City” exhibition��

Gallery Opening: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Sept. 5 in ���سԹ� CIC Art Gallery

Gallery Exhibition: Regular campus hours through beginning of October 2019 in ���سԹ� CIC Art Gallery

Festivities will open the month with a “People of Manhattan Project: Building an Atomic City” exhibition at ���سԹ� that will feature a range of artifacts from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Collection and the Hanford History Project’s extensive collections.

A grand opening will be held 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Sept. 5 in the Consolidated Information Center Art Gallery at ���سԹ�, which is open to the public.

The gallery will be open during regular campus hours through the beginning of October 2019.

Day’s Pay Bomber presentation

3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sept. 12 in the ���سԹ� East Auditorium

Individuals will be treated to a rare occasion when descendants of the crew who worked on the Day’s Pay Bomber will discuss the role of their parents in the war and the impact that Hanford employees made on the war effort.

The presentation will take place from 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 12 in the ���سԹ� East Auditorium.

The Day’s Pay is a large part of local history related to Hanford and the war effort, Franklin said. On July 23, 1944, Hanford Engineer Works employees each gave a day’s worth of their pay to purchase the B-17 bomber for the war effort, which is where it gets its name. It flew more than 60 missions in Europe.

Artifacts will be on display as part of the presentation, and individuals will get to view a rare clip of the plane being christened at the Hanford Construction Camp back in July 1944.

“Something Extraordinary – A Short History of the Manhattan Project, Hanford and the B Reactor” book launch

4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Hanford Unit Visitors Center

Local Tri-Cities independent historian C. Mark Smith and former Hanford physicist Bob Ferguson will discuss their new book “Something Extraordinary – A Short History of the Manhattan Project, Hanford and the B Reactor” during a launch from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 13 at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Hanford Unit Visitors Center, 2000 Logston Blvd. in Richland.

The book provides a concise, but comprehensive narrative of the geopolitics and atomic research that led to the creation of the Manhattan Project.

Ferguson began a career in the nuclear field when he joined General Electric at the Hanford Site in 1957 where he trained and worked as a reactor physicist and reactor operations supervisor at the B Reactor. His career spans 60 years in the nuclear energy field, where he was also appointed the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Programs for the U.S. Department of Energy from 1978 – 1980 during President Jimmy Carter’s administration.

Smith spent 40 years managing economic development organizations at the local, state, and federal level. He is a Fellow Member and Honorary Life Member of the International Economic Development Council and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from former Washington Gov. Gary Locke in 2004. Smith retired in 2005 and began a new career as the author of a series of books that combine history, biography, and politics in 2008.

Atomic Frontier Day

11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Sept. 14 at Howard Amon Park in Richland

The City of Richland and other community partners, including the Hanford History Project, are hosting “Atomic Frontier Day,” a family-friendly event that honors a community event popular in the early days of Hanford.

Festivities will take place from 11 a.m – 8 p.m. Sept. 14 at Howard Amon Park in Richland.

The day will bring back to life the 1940s era with music, games, a mess hall dinner, storytelling and Hanford-related exhibits. A parade will also begin the day at 11 a.m. along George Washington Way. For the full schedule, visit .

“We are recognizing Richland’s history and its connection to atomic history,” Franklin said. “We are not celebrating the bomb, but rather having a community celebration that remembers the burst of activity that created the City of Richland.”

 

Media Contacts:

Robert Franklin, ���سԹ� Hanford History Project assistant director, 509-372-7678, Robert.franklin@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations specialist, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – The authors of a new book focusing on the beginnings of the Hanford Site will hold a public presentation from 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, in the East Auditorium at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Authors Robert Bauman, Robert Franklin, David W. Harvey and Laura Arata recently released the book, “Nowhere to Remember: Hanford, White Bluffs and Richland to 1943,” which chronicles the early days of pre- and post-Hanford towns and the people that were removed to make way for the Hanford Site.

“The Hanford Site has a very interesting and sometimes even unsettling history, but it is important to tell all aspects of that story,” Franklin said. “This book focuses on the origin of that story and the people who were involved in those early towns. It’s a fascinating look into an early story that many people may not know.”

The Hanford Site is home to the world’s first full-scale plutonium production reactor, which was built over the span of a one-year period during World War II in secret. Plutonium produced at the site was used in the first nuclear bomb, which was tested at the Trinity Site in New Mexico, as well as in the Fat Man bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan. During the Cold War, the site expanded to include nine nuclear reactors and five large plutonium processing facilities, which produced plutonium for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The facility is now being decommissioned and resides as one of the largest nuclear clean-up projects in the world. It is also the home of a commercial nuclear power plant known as the Columbia Generating Station.

In the early stages of the Hanford Site, families were relocated or were required to leave their place of residence in the Hanford area.

“All residents of the towns of White Bluffs and Hanford, and many of the residents of Richland, were required to move,” Bauman said.

The book is the first in a series known as the Hanford Histories that will be published by WSU Press, in association with ���سԹ�’ Hanford History Project. Other volumes are currently in the works, of which some of the topics will focus on science and the environment, race and diversity, constructing Hanford, the Manhattan Project and its legacies and an illustrated history of Hanford.

Copies of “Nowhere to Remember: Hanford, White Bluffs and Richland to 1943” may be purchased at the event with cash or check for $25. Or, they may be purchased online at the website. Authors will also be available both before and after the presentation to sign copies.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University Tri-Cities launched its first book for a new series known as the Hanford Histories during a launch event at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Interim Visitors’ Center, located at 2000 Logston Blvd in Richland.

During the launch, ���سԹ� history professor Bob Bauman and Robert Franklin, ���سԹ� Hanford History Project archivist and oral historian, talked about their book, “Nowhere to Remember: Hanford, White Bluffs and Richland to 1943.” The event also featured representatives of the Hanford History Project and Hanford Histories series partner and publisher WSU Press.

“The first volume in the Hanford Histories series uses oral history interviews conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project to tell the story of the towns of Hanford, White Bluffs and Richland in the years before World War II,” Bauman said. “Many people in the region know about the Hanford Site, but not many know about the towns and people that were removed to make way for Hanford. In many ways, those people and towns have been erased from history. This volume hopes to remedy that.”

Copies of the book are now available for purchase for $24.95 on the WSU Press website at .

Detailing the early days of pre- and post-Hanford

Franklin said the purpose of the book, as well as the series in general, is to examine different subjects and themes surrounding Hanford history through the voices of those who have lived it.

“Little could the residents of these communities imagine …. how radically their fates would diverge from their fellow frontiersmen with the arrival of government troops in 1943,” said Michael Mays, director of the Hanford History Project, in the preface for the book. “’Nowhere to Remember’ leans heavily on the oral histories that Hanford History Project and others have recovered over the years to recount a history that would otherwise very likely have vanished along with those displaced communities.”

Bauman said people represented in the first book tell fascinating stories of hardship, perseverance, community and displacement.

Hanford Histories as a book series

While the book is the first in the Hanford Histories series, other books will follow on Hanford, featuring subjects including science and the environment, race and diversity, constructing Hanford, the Manhattan Project and its legacies and an illustrated history of Hanford.

“Combining archival research and the narratives the Hanford Oral History Project has gathered since 2013, the books in the series balance the regional, national and international impacts of the Hanford Site,” Franklin said.

He said Hanford is often examined from the point of its environmental legacy, or as part of the much larger Manhattan Project or Cold War defense complex.

“These narratives often sacrifice detail and first-hand accounts for a wide scope,” he said. “It is our hope that by examining the history of Hanford through the words of former workers, residents of Richland and those affected by Hanford, that we can introduce the reader in a thoughtful and approachable way to this complex history.”

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Becky Rausch has had a passion for teaching since she was a little girl. But as an adult, her life restrictions in raising a family with eight children left her with little time to complete an education degree while serving as a paraprofessional. That is, until the past two years.

Through Washington State University Tri-Cities’ alternative route to an education degree, Rausch received credit for proven experience in the classroom as a paraprofessional while taking the full courses needed to certify as a teacher.

The program took her two years and Rausch was among the first class of 18 graduates in the program this May. She received an endorsement in elementary education and English language learning, also known as ELL.

“With the WSU alternative route program, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience,” she said. “It was difficult, for sure. But I truly learned from some of the best professors and mentors.”

From classroom volunteer to education student

As a young child, Rausch said she used to pretend she was a teacher, inspiring and motivating others to learn and grow. But as she got older and after earning her associate’s degree, raising a family became more important.

After her children started school, however, Rausch dedicated hours during the day to volunteering in her children’s classroom and serving on the schools’ Parent Teacher Organization.

“I volunteered in the schools for 21 years and served as every single position on the PTO board,” she said.

It was through her involvement in her children’s schools that led her to eventually become a substitute paraeducator, and four years ago, she became a full-time paraeducator in the Richland School District. After a few years, Rausch said she considered quitting her job because she wanted to go back to school full-time to become a teacher. The ���سԹ� alternative route program meant she wouldn’t have to quite her job.

Through the alternative program, Rausch kept her job at Sacajawea Elementary School as a paraprofessional while learning about research-driven teaching practices, classroom management and more through the bachelor’s program at ���سԹ�. She attended school full-time while working full-time.

“I’ve spend most of my life supporting my kids, four of whom went to WSU. Now, I felt it was my turn,” she said. “This program turned out to be a good fit for me and where I was at.”

Learning from the best

Through the program, Rausch took an average of three to five classes at a time while also completing requirements to prove that she had the teaching expertise for credit.

She attended classes, wrote dozens of papers, was video-recorded in her classroom as a paraprofessional and student teacher, wrote lesson plans and more. All the while, Rausch said she learned from WSU professors who gave their all for their students to ensure that they developed into the best teachers they could be.

Rausch also learned extensively from her teacher mentors at her home school. She was mentored by kindergarten teacher Barbi Wolf at Sacajawea Elementary School in Richland, and also worked closely with Rae Fournier, a third-grade teacher at the school. Both said they were impressed by Rausch’s dedication to her students and her willingness to learn.

“She handled it with grace and gave 150 percent of herself full-time,” Wolf said.

Fournier, also a ���سԹ� education alumna, said the result of Rausch’s work ethic is that she is certain she will be an incredible teacher.

“For somebody like Becky, the alternative route program presented the perfect opportunity,” she said. “She will be a really quality teacher in the classroom.”

A classroom of her own��

Come this fall, Rausch will run her own classroom for the first time. She secured a position as a kindergarten teacher at Sacajawea Elementary School.

“I am beyond thrilled and can’t wait to start,” she said. “I’ve been a parent, volunteer and employee at Sacajawea for 26 years. This is definitely my home.”

She said she is glad to have had the experience in the classroom as a paraprofessional as she feels it gave her a head start into the profession.

“The combination of what you apply from your experience as a para to what you learn in the education program from your professors is incredible,” she said. “WSU was amazing through all of this. All of the instructors were outstanding and my advisors devoted themselves to my success. It was so much fun going back to school at WSU that it’s kind of hard to stop now.”

For more information on the alternative route to an education degree program, visit /education/undergraduate/alternate-route/.