February 16, 2004
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in this issue
-- Interest in the Manhattan Project Goes Through the Roof!
-- Please Help Us Keep Our Site 'Free'...
-- New Web Site Content - 1st 6 Weeks of 2004
-- Special Engineer Detachment
-- New Fully Site-Indexed Search Engine
-- Atomic Bomb General Store
-- New Historical Content Wanted
-- Board of Governors and Board of Advisers
-- Help Someone You Know Get Access to the Internet
-- Closing Remarks

Dear Joseph,

Welcome to our first newsletter for 2004. We are beginning our 5th year of operations (2 years as a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization) and are happy to report that world-wide interest in the history of the Manhattan Project seems to have no limit. (See Following Article)

We will be issuing similar newsletters every two months throughout 2004 as well as a few special announcements about future historical content to be added. Please let anyone you know who might be interested in the history of the atomic bomb about our project.

Interest in the Manhattan Project Goes Through the Roof!
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When we first launched our web site in January of 2000, we had no idea of the level of interest in the Manhattan Project----world wide. We averaged close to 24,000 visitors per month in 2003 with 109,000 pages viewed. This was a 32% increase over 2002.

In January of 2004, we had 30,079 visitors with 156,545 pages viewed. For the first 15 days in February, we have had 18,912 visitors with 93,287 pages viewed. Along with this increase in traffic has come a corresponding increase in e-mails from visitors. We are now averaging close to 100 e-mails per week, mainly from students asking questions about the Manhattan Project. We make sure that we answer every one. (You also might be interested to know that in January 30% of our web site traffic came from more than 130 countries) Click on the link immediately following for a list of these countries...you will be amazed!

2004 Traffic Analysis & Listing of Countries

Please Help Us Keep Our Site 'Free'...
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As our web site has grown in size (now at 3,400+ web pages), the costs of maintaining it has also risen. Monthly operating costs have surpassed $2,000 per month and memberships are only offsetting about 40% of this amount. Another 20% is covered through sales of the items we have available in our Atomic Bomb General Store (see below). This leaves a 'shortfall' each month of close to $800. We will be adding 'buttons' throughout the web site in an effort to encourage users of the web site to make a contribution toward its maintenance.

One option for us is to begin charging for access to some areas of the web site. (note: those areas accessed by most students would remain free). This is a last resort but one that many web sites have been forced into because of the lack of financial support. If you are not presently a member but have found the information that we are providing useful, we ask that you consider making a donation to help us keep from 'falling flat on our face'. We have developed two new avenues where visitors and friends may make small donations using major credit cards...Amazon.com and PayPal.com. Please consider helping us today. (Please keep in mind all donations are tax-deductible)

See How Easy It Is to Make a Small Donation...

New Web Site Content - 1st 6 Weeks of 2004
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Our plan in 2004 is to add approximately 2,000 web pages to the web site. For the first 6 weeks of 2004, we have added some fantastic historical content and these additions have been summarized under our 'What's New' section. (Note: Please check this section often since it is being updated every week)

Here is a sampling of new content that has recently been added: (1) A new section on the Special Engineer Detachment (see following article); (2) VAdm Frederick Ashworth Collection - Director of Operations Tinian Destination Team - 75 pages of personal memos and transcribed telephone conversations between himself and Capt. William Parsons; (3) David P. Rudolph Collection - Mr. Rudolph is the only man to have witnessed both the CP-1 experiment at the Met Lab and the Trinity Test - 21 pages from his publication "In Pursuit of Plutonium"; (4) Mallinckrodt Chemical - St. Louis, MO - "The Uranium Story" - 37 Pages; (5) Lyman Brenneman Collection - SED at the K25 Power Plant at Oak Ridge - Collection of documents; (6) Fay Cunningham Collection - SED at MIT and Operation Crossroads - Collection of photos and documents; and (7) Donald P. Ames Collection- SED at the Met Lab - Collection of photos and documents

Full Story

Special Engineer Detachment
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As stated in the previous article, we have embarked upon a major new section of the web site which will chronicle the complete history of the Special Engineer Detachment. This group of men which numbered more than 2,000 (1,200+ at Oak Ridge; 700+ at Los Alamos; and 200+ at other locations) worked in all aspects of the development of the atomic bomb. Collectively, these men had as much knowledge about the project as any group involved.

We are very fortunate to be in direct contact with more than 150 of these men. Many have provided us with an extraordinary collection of memroabilia as can be seen from some of the historical content recently added. (see previous article). This section will be worked on and expanded over the next 6 to 8 months. Please check back often to view this exciting section as it develops.

New Special Engineer Detachment Section...

New Fully Site-Indexed Search Engine
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One interesting statistic is that approximately 90% of the thousands of visitors to our web site are 'first time' visitors. Our traffic pattern analysis software allows us to see what pages visitors are coming to and whether or not they are the 'right' pages based upon what the visitor was searching for. This gives us the capability to make improvements in the process. For instance, one of the most often viewed pages on our web site is a photo of the Little Boy bomb along with certain statistics. More often than not, a student will enter the words Little Boy in a search engine (such as Google or Yahoo) and the resulting finds will direct him or her to this Little Boy page on our site. A number of these visitors will probably print the page and then exit not realizing that there are 20 other pages scattered throughout the site that provide much more interesting detail about Little Boy. One of our major tasks is to keep the student on our site and to try and direct him to other areas of interest. Once our web site went over 1,000 pages in size (and perhaps before) it became difficult for visitors to find the detail that they needed. Now that we have more than 3,000 pages (~5,000 pages by year end) the problem becomes critical because most visitors will not spend a lot of time looking and many will leave frustrated.

To alleviate this problem we have installed a new search engine which periodically indexes our complete web site. This means that visitors may now enjoy pin- point accuracy and search all 3,000+ pages for even the most obscure word or name.

Try Out the New Search Engine Today...

Atomic Bomb General Store
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As I mentioned earlier in the newsletter, around 20% of our operating costs are covered through the sale of photos, books, etc. from our eBay Store.

We have just received 50 copies of the popular book "The Manhattan Project: Making of the Atomic Bomb"...15 of these have slightly scuffed covers and will be sold at a reduced price. We still have 10 copies of the 1945 Oak Ridge Special Engineer Detachment Yearbook available at a reduced price for newsletter recipients. We still have 7 or 8 of the "509th Remembered" books left. We also have 30 of the 2004 Manhattan Project Commemorative Calendars available as well as some new 8-1/2" x 11" photos...most recently one that depicts the color noseart of the 15 B- 29's that comprised the 509th Composite Group.

See Sale Items Here...

New Historical Content Wanted
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As you can see, the historical material that has been provided to us by our members and others is what has made our web site so popular and the "Go To" web site for anyone wanting to learn about the Manhattan Project. We are proud of the role we are playing in making sure that students are exposed to an accurate history and not one that has been 'colored' by revisionists.

The world-wide audience that comes to our web site each and every day is hungry for this knowledge. You can play a role in teaching this history as well as pay tribute to a Manhattan Project veteran by providing material for these 'Collections'.

More information here...

Board of Governors and Board of Advisers
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We are in the process of developing both an expanded Board of Governors and an expanded Board of Advisers. Both of these groups are required to effectively give direction to the organization as well as to insure accuracy of the web site.

We are creating new guidelines for these two groups and will be sending out another announcement on this matter in the next couple of weeks. If anyone would like to offer their services or expertise, please contact us.
Help Someone You Know Get Access to the Internet
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More than 50% of our veteran members do not have access to the Internet. Many of those that do have access have told us that it is one of the best things they have done for themselves since retirement.

The Internet gets a lot of bad press, but when used responsibly, it opens up a whole new world of information. If you have a family member who is a veteran, please consider helping them to get 'connected'. They will be forever grateful.
Closing Remarks
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In closing this newsletter, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who have contributed so much to make this project a success.