Individual Details

Miscellaneous

In a telephone conversation on 11-116-2017, Helen Johnson Huckins related her work experiences with the DuPont Company and her previous work before joining the company.

During her senior year (1938-1939) in Gatesville High School she started working for attorney Robert Brown, where she typed deed records.
In 1941, she began working at the North Fort Hood PX.
She soon realized this job did not have many chances for advancement and decided to go to Houston to apply for work with the FBI where a friend had obtained a job. She was not allowed to apply for the FBI job because she was still employed by the government at the Ft. Hood PX.
She then decided to go to Waco and apply for a job through an employment agency, thinking she might get a job in California where the shipping industry was involved in providing services for the war effort. In Waco she was told that the DuPont Co. had priority for all job applicants, and she was hired by that company for a clerical job in the state of Washington. This job was part of the Manhatten Project which produced the atomic bomb used to end WW II.
After the war ended in 1945, she took another position with DuPont in St. Paul, MN, where the company was producing smokeless powder.
After a few months, she decided to resign from DuPont and return to Texas when her transfer to the new DuPont facility in Orange, TX did not occur.
She was soon notified that she had been accepted for the DuPont job in Orange, TX and she continued to work in the position until 1949.

Miscellaneous

Helen Johnson Writes of Experiences While On Secret Work

From Gatesville Messenger & Star Forum, Vol. 40, No. 2, Friday, August 24, 1945
Transcribed bySherry Lawrence, 10-23-2015
 
“Special to Gatesville Messenger:
August 14, 1945:
 
On Dec. 12, 1943 I signed a contract with the E. I. du Pont Nemours & Co., stating that I would work for them on a "secret" project having to do with the war effort and was located "somewhere near Pasco, Washington".  Two days later I left on the train moving at the company's expense and four days later I was met by a Du Pont representative when I arrived in Pasco.  The next morning I reported to the Grey Building which was the Reception Center for all new employees, then I was loaded on a bus and began what seemed to me an endless ride out to the actual project. After riding for quite awhile we gradually came into a desert.  On the right of the highway was the beautiful Columbia River, but on the left side was a stretch of sage brush and just as far as you could see was flat country covered with sage and sand without a single tree in sight.  
Finally we came to what I supposed was our destination only to learn that this was merely a "stop" on our journey and that we would continue further into the desert.
It was a small town with only a few buildings and houses being constructed.  Later it was revealed as the nation's newest wonder war city rising as a result of the world conflict and was the home of the atomic bomb.  Richland was at that time in its first stage of construction; the streets were dotted with giant cranes, bulldozers, trucks, and tractors.  We went still further and finally arrived at Hanford.  Hanford was the construction town for the project.  All of the offices were at Hanford until the plant went into operation and then everything was moved to Richland.  There is no need to try and explain about Hanford.  It was a modern miracle and anything I could say about it and what happened there would probably not be believed by most people. 
Upon arrival in Hanford all of the new employees went through the employment office there and assigned to different jobs in the different departments.  Usually it took at least a day to go through this, but I was fortunate and finished in about two hours.  We were interviewed our fingerprints taken,and signed all sorts of papers stating that we would work in complete secrecy not speaking of the project or the work going on there.  We were urged to keep down all rumors concerning the place.  After we were assigned to our different departments, mine being a clerk in the Traffic Department, we were assigned to a room in the ladies barracks.
The next morning was my first day at work.  Each employee went through an orientation and was given a badge with his picture on it and information pertaining to himself so as to identify him if necessary.  We were instructed never to be without our badge as we could not leave or get on the project without first showing our badge to the guards, whom we jokingly called "Gastapo", that guarded the project
at all times. We were not allowed to enter the building where we worked without our badge showing that we belonged in that particular building.
 
The Administration building contained all of the offices.  It was the largest one-story building I had ever seen and I got lost twice in it the first day.  It was wonderful to work in an office where you could pick up the phone and call long-distance anywhere in the country and have your call go straight through without having to wait for hours.  One merely had to mention the name, "Hanford Engineer Works," and doors were opened where otherwise they would have been shut.  The project's priority rating was the highest of any job.
The longer I stayed, the more I learned about the project.  We were informed that we were working on something which was vital to the war effort, but was given no information as to what that might be.  We were told that the chemistry developed on the project would cause chemistry books to be re-written.  Of course there were rumors as to what it was, but I don't believe a single one of us ever thought of anything as dynamic as the atomic bomb.  What was being produced was the carefully guarded secret of a very few company key men and military leaders.
The whole place was built by blue-prints and blue-prints alone.  Hanford was a town built by the government and Du Pont.  Some people might not think that a town can just be built right in the middle of a desert in such a short time, but it was done.  The area was under total supervision of army engineers-every foot of the land having been purchased by the government-covers more than 15 townships and half a millionacres in three counties.  The project, from the city, is beyond the gate on the road leading northward to town'sout-skirts.  Likewise all roads leading to the project are carefully guarded.  No one is allowed to enter the operational plant construction area without good reason and due cause.  
Everything was done to make the people comfortable and contented and to make them want to stay on the job until it was finished.  The Olympic Commissary had the huge job of feeding everyone and they did a splendid job of erecting eight Mess Halls that would feed a thousand people at a time.  A Recreation Department was formed and they brought all types of entertainment to the employees.  Some of the best orchestras were brought out for the dances such as Jan Garbor, Henry King, and Kay Kyser making his first civilian performance in three years.  Plays were brought to us from Seattle and professional football and baseball games were staged on the ball park.  A large recreation hall was built especially for the entertainment which was given during the Christmas holidays.  Grocery stores, drugstores, barber shops, beauty shops, post offices, picture shows, bowling alleys, skating rink, and riding academy were all built.  Hanford had anything that any other civilian town had. Probably the most important of all was the church which they built.  It was not a beautiful structure merely a building put up temporarily.  It was called the "United Protestant Church" and was organized by Mr.Blackburn, the pastor.  He really had a job to perform when he organized this church for all people and all religions.
In Hanford every kind of person was found.  People were there from all over the states.  In our office alone there were sixteen different states represented.  We were given credit for having the largest trailer camp in the world.  There were men and their families who had been construction workers for years and made their homes in their trailers.  As far as you could see, were miles and miles of trailers.   Some of them large enough to closely resemble a house while others so small that you found it hard to believe a family could actually live in it.

The life in Hanford wasn't always pleasant.  During the winter it was alright but when summer came and brought those hot summer winds blowing in off the Yakima Valley and when it hit the desert it picked up the sand and by the time it got to Hanford a good sand storm was in the making.  These sand storms would come four days out of every week. There wasn't anything to be done except stay indoors with the windows down and yet the sand could still sift in.  Safety glasses were provided for the employees to guard against the sand for when it blew you could scarcely see ten feet in front of you.  There was nothing more beautiful than the desert in the Spring time before the sandstorms began, however.

Life in Hanford has its advantages and disadvantages.  Most of the people realized their job was important and so they stayed until the finish, and their reward for staying on the job through sand storms and all the hardships was rewarded with the atomic bomb.
Although the project was the largest construction job ever attempted even larger than the Burma Road, the accidents were few.  In fact Du Pont won the Safety Award.  Every precaution was taken for the safety of the workmen and safety meetings were held weekly.  The areas where all the work was carried on were located five miles apart.  A siren system was fixed and all employees were instructed to meet at a certain place if the siren ever sounded.  There buses would be waiting to evacuate us from the plant site.  Fortunately this never happened.
When the plant went into operation everything was moved to Richland.  Although Richland is lock, stock and barrel a government and company city within the Military reservation, it is still virtually "open".  It can be entered by all civilians. The modern Richland is by no means a temporary war housing development with lines of drab narrow houses.  The city is located on the banks of the Columbia River.  All houses are constructed with an eye to lasting beauty. The City designers have certainly had a holiday planning the city and it is now a model and ideal city.  The streets are named after deceased army engineers and battles of World War II such as Bataan and Corrigidor.  Fine schools, churches and hospitals have been erected.
The veil of secrecy- which the army has consistently requested in any and all things related to the project- has now been torn away with the announcement of the tremendous results of the atomic bomb.  It was here on the sunbaked, sandswept desert that a large number of construction workers from all over the United States worked together guided by the Du Pont Company, built cities and produced America's secret weapon—the atomic bomb!”
 
Helen M. Johnson

Miscellaneous

In a 2009 Christmas card to Sherry Lawrence, Helen Johnson Huckins recalls these Christmas memories:
When she lived in Oglesby on her grandparent's farm they cut a wild cedar tree in the pasture for their Christmas tree. It fell during the night, and she thinks about that incident every Christmas.
On the Christmas before her sister Doris died they were not able to have a Christmas tree, so her gift of a doll was laid in a chair in Doris's room.

Miscellaneous

In 1990, Helen Johnson Huckins sent a Christmas card to her sister Evelyn Johnson Lawrence about the joys of a small town Christmas. The wording of the card's message was so meaningful to Evelyn that she suggested that they exchange the card each Christmas, and a tradition was started that continues today (2017), with the exchange now being between Evelyn's daughter Sherry Lawrence and Sherry's aunt Helen Huckins.

Miscellaneous

From a letter dated only Saturday, December 13, from Helen Johnson Huckins to her sister Evelyn Johnson Lawrence:
Recalling incidents that happened while they were growing up on their grandparents (John Ealy and Mary Frances Coleman Johnson) farm in Oglesby-
Popping corn in the fireplace at night.
Their mother (Minnie Saunders Johnson) making candy and one time Helen's dog Bobbie ate half of the candy while it was cooling on the porch.
The last letter she received from their father (Gussie Gibson Johnson) mentioned how good he remembered the candy was and that she (Helen) thought Evelyn took after their mother because Evelyn also made good candy.
One Easter their sister Doris colored eggs and hid them for Helen and Evelyn to hunt but Helen's goat got them first.
Her father tearing up the woodpile trying to find the snake that Helen and Evelyn said was in it.
Shelling corn in the barn and Evelyn throwing rocks at the rats as they came out of their holes.
Making "roads" in the front yard to run their tricycle, scooter, and wagon on.
How all the neighbors would come to visit their Grandma Johnson on Sunday afternoons and they would make ice cream and Helen got to sit on the freezer while it was turned.
The Thanksgiving when it rained so hard she was afraid they wouldn't get to go to their Aunt Maude's ( Maude Hampton Lam) house, but Leola (Maude Lam's daughter) was able to drive her car through the mud to pick them up.
The Kenzie family that lived in a tent on her grandparents' farm in Oglesby and how their mother would send her and Evelyn to take the family a bucket of milk and the Kenzie baby wore diapers made from what looked like canvas from their tent.
Grandpa Johnson taking a little walk in the afternoon to the haystack where he hid his bottle [of whiskey.]
"Riding" their cupie dolls from Uncle Choc's (Ernest Homer Johnson) carnival up and down in the well bucket.
How her sister Doris tried to teach her everything she should know before starting school so she wouldn't be dumb and embarrass her.
Butchering a cow or hog when the first cold spell came and "old Tom" would make hot tamales and chili in a wash tub for her mother to can.
Her mother heating irons and wrapping them in paper to warm the bed on cold nights in the bedroom where the angel wings hung on the wall (worn in a church play by either Doris or Evelyn.)