Hanford History Project documents the legacy of the Manhattan Project and Cold War

Think Out Loud

The history of Hanford nuclear reservation is often centered on the enormity of its original mission of refining plutonium to power the atomic bombs that would bring WWII to an end - and the clean up of the waste left behind. Robert Franklin is an assistant professor of history with Washington State University Tri-Cities and the assistant director at the Hanford History Project. He’s made it his mission to highlight the lesser-known stories of the Hanford site’s impact. He sits down with us to share more about the larger history of the site and the lesser known stories, including the Black and low-income families who worked at Hanford.