Skip to content Skip to footer

Local History

HomeResearchLocal History

Oak Ridge Room

The Oak Ridge Room at Oak Ridge Public Library was dedicated in September 1986 as part of the Library’s celebration of Tennessee’s Homecoming ’86. This unique collection was established to gather, catalog, and preserve the records and history of the “Secret City,” and to provide assistance to the public in researching Oak Ridge history. Special collections, documents, reports, and artifacts reveal what life was like in the 1940’s when Oak Ridge was a brand new town built to government wartime specifications.

In addition to historic photograph collections, the Oak Ridge Room also contains a large collection of books on the development and history of the Manhattan Project, including many biographies of some of the key scientists and military personnel. The collection also includes telephone directories from the 1940’s-2020’s, maps, floor plans, and blueprints. This digital collection highlights many of the popular, informative, and unique items at the Library. Current information about our city government and issues important to citizens today are also included.

Our Services

Local Author Spotlight

We celebrate authors and artists local to Oak Ridge and its surrounding areas.
Title by these authors are highlighted in our library with their own call number and shelved after nonfiction.

The Inquisitor's Key

The Inquisitor’s Key

The most riveting and ambitious novel to date in Jefferson Bass’ New York Times bestselling Body Farm mystery series, The Inquisitor’s Key takes forensic investigator Dr. Bill Brockton to Avignon, France, and embroils him in a deadly religious mystery that could shake the Vatican itself to its very foundations.
Radical Volunteers

Radical Volunteers

Radical Volunteers tells the largely unknown story of southern student activism in Tennessee between the Brown decision in 1954 and the national backlash against the Kent State University shootings in May 1970. As one of the first statewide studies of student activism―and one of the few examinations of southern student activism―it broadens scholarly understanding of New Left and Black student radicalism from its traditionally defined hotbeds in the Northeast and on the West Coast.

Boone

Boone

From the author of the best-selling Deep Series, Boone is a brand-new prequel that follows Boone Fischer in his early years. His passions, his challenges, and the fascinating people he meets along the way… all are parts of the journey that will shape the man he will become, and lead him to the life of a divemaster in Curaçao and Bonaire.

The Burning Typewriter

The Burning Typewriter

Legendary authors are the stars of The Burning Typewriter, the first major book to concern itself with acting appearances by writers, as well as biographical films about writers.
From macho epics based on the lives and works of Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, and Zane Grey to lighter forgotten fare (like Carol Burnett’s surprisingly believable turn as Erma Bombeck in The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank), the book is a wild ride through an amazing array of cinema-literature.

Local Authors

We celebrate authors and artists local to Oak Ridge and it’s surrounding areas.
Titles by these authors are highlighted in our library with their own shelf and labels. Search for other titles by local authors through our catalog.

Oak Ridge Firsts

  • August 13, 1942
  • September 19, 1942
  • November 15, 1942
  • February 2, 1943
  • February 18, 1943
  • June 2, 1943
  • May 29, 1944
  • September 6, 1955

  • Manhattan District

    Established contract with Union Carbide and Carbon for K-25.