DOE recognizes the women who shaped the work of the Manhattan Project, from providing their expertise in explosives chemistry to working on nuclear fission theories to supporting the workforce to testing reactors to designing and building the atomic bomb. In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote President Franklin D. Roosevelt, alerting the President to the importance of research on nuclear chain reactions and the possibility that research might lead to developing powerful bombs. On January 19, 1942, President Roosevelt approved production of the atomic bomb and the top-secret Manhattan Project quickly began. View resources on energy.gov/manhattan to get the full history.
Women played important roles across the Manhattan Project complex. They worked as nurses, teachers, librarians, and secretaries. They sold and processed war bonds, worked the desks at dormitories and post exchanges, welded, and even monitored the control panels of the calutron.
As Kathy Keith at Los Alamos National Laboratory wrote, "In 1943 Manhattan Project leaders J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie R. Groves scoured the country looking for anyone that would help achieve their goal: to end World War II by building a “gadget” that exploited the newly discovered phenomenon of nuclear fission. They did not discriminate; women or men, young or old, Ph.D. or technical experience—all were considered if they had something to contribute."
Explore the History of Women in the Manhattan Project
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This Women's History Month, we're showcasing the broad spectrum of women who contributed to the Manhattan Project. -
The first woman from the Manhattan Project we're highlighting this Women's History Month is Lilli Hornig. -
The fourth woman from the Manhattan Project we're highlighting this Women's History Month is Floy Agnes Lee. -
The "Calutron Girls" are the final women of the Manhattan Project we're celebrating this year. -
The second woman from the Manhattan Project we're highlighting this month is Blanche J. Lawrence. -
The third woman whose work helped the Manhattan Project that we're highlighting this month is Irène Joliot-Curie. -
Download our free Women of the Manhattan Project coloring book.
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