The Girls of Atomic City

Celia is a “wavy-haired 24-year-old” (3) born to immigrant parents in a declining mining town in the South. Celia is like many of the other women at CEW: young, poor, and from a rural background. In fact, the Project specifically seeks to employ such women because they believe that they are well-suited to direct instruction and do not ask questions. This proves to be the case with Celia who easily accepts the Project’s secrecy. In this, she is representative of the majority of Oak Ridgers. Like so many others, takes her job based primarily on the limited description that she will be helping “to bring a speedy and victorious end to the war” (7). That is to say, she represents the common motivation of doing her part of the war effort. Although when she first arrives at CEW, she is horrified by the mud and has to be carried over it to avoid ruining her new shoes, Celia grows in independence. Reflecting the changes occurring as growing numbers of women enter the workforce, she insists on paying her own way with dates. Later, the she experiences the secrecy of the community from a different vantage point when she is pregnant and no longer working.