Maydene Asbury transcript

Collection — Container: Single Folder Collections - 2004 Box 8 (04.0264-04.0310), Folder: 04.0264 - Folder 1

Identifier: 04.0264

Staff Only

Content Description

This collection relates to Maydene Asbury who worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory separating Uranium-235 from Uranium-238 during World War II, which was part of the process for building the atomic bomb. This collection contains an oral history interview transcript.

Dates

Event: 1943-1947
September 25, 2004

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical / Historical

Maydene Asbury (Josie Maydene Holladay Asbury) was born on March 24, 1921 near Huntington, Tennessee. She was the 9th of 12 children. During the first years of the war, Asbury worked at a department store. Then she got a job (February 1943) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee where her brother-in-law, who was a chemical engineer worked. At the plant, Asbury worked in cubicles separating U-235 from 238 as part of the process of building the atomic bomb. At the time, she did not realize what she was doing as there was a high degree of secrecy surrounding her work. Three of her brothers also served in the war; all survived. Asbury retired as Manager of Lakeside Credit Union at E.I. DuPont plant in New Johnsonville, TN. She passed away on July 7th, 2015 at the age of 94. She is buried at Ebenezer United Methodist Church Cemetery in Denver, Tennessee.

Extent

1 folders (1 folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Custodial History

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Subjects

Atomic bomb--History--20th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Great Depression, 1929 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Hiroshima-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Marriage. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
New Johnsonville (Tenn.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Oak Ridge (Tn.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Oral history Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Tennessee Eastman Company Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945, War dead Subject Source: Local sources
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945--Women--United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings