Smithsonian Manhattan Project tour
to include two N.M. sites

Travelers inevitably learn a few new things each time they reach a new destination--or even while getting there. But the Smithsonian Institution has designed a series of study tours geared specifically toward educational travel.

An upcoming tour, Entering the Atomic Age: The Manhattan Project, is scheduled for May 6 through 12. The tour will take travelers to Albuquerque and Los Alamos, N.M., where more than 50 years ago scientific achievements marked their place in history.

A group of America's top scientists and engineers trekked to a secret location atop a mesa in the Jemez Mountains, where their mission was to develop the world's first atomic bomb.

On July 16, 1945, less than three years after work began, a plutonium device was successfully detonated at the White Sands Testing Grounds. McAllister Hall, a physicist and one of the original participants, will trace the history of the Manhattan Project and lead travelers in exploring sites associated with the mission.

Participants will learn the scope of the Manhattan Project and how work was coordinated at 39 sites in the United States and Canada, including Oak Ridge.

They will also meet some of the family members who lived in Los Alamos during World War II. A visit to the Bradbury Museum and Bathtub Row, a group of log houses where the senior scientists lived during the Manhattan Project, is also included at the beginning of the tour.

On Wednesday, participants will learn about the Oppenheimer/Teller Controversy, an argument about how many atomic bombs to build. The next day will be spent visiting the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, which traces the development of nuclear weapons and where aircraft including a B-52 bomber are displayed.

Friday entails a daylong tour of the Trinity site. Participants will visit Ground Zero, the restored McDonald Ranch where the plutonium core was assembled, and the location where much of the filming of the explosion took place.

"Again, it just goes to show there's a market out there (people interested in heritage tourism); it's not just World War II veterans," said Joe Valentino, director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"But the Department of Energy says it has eight signature facilities -- two are in Los Alamos and three of them are here," Valentino said. "Oak Ridge has as much, if not more, to offer in terms of history, science and technology, and what we call 'edutainment,' as the places they are going. They're just getting one part of the Manhattan story, and the total picture includes Oak Ridge," Valentino said.

"This is just another way to show this is bigger than just Oak Ridge ... it's on a national level. And if you can fill up a tour to go to Los Alamos, you can fill up a tour to go to Oak Ridge--and it's recognized by one of the great institutions of the U.S."

According to Valentino, the CVB is working in conjunction with the Heritage Division of the state Department of Tourism and has tentatively scheduled an "American War Tour (or Trail) of Tennessee, which potentially could be included in future Smithsonian Study Tour itineraries. The initiative is in the very early stages, and organizers hope to involve the University of Tennessee War and Society Department.

"What we've found is that Tennessee has some aspect of nearly every war America has been involved with, whether it be the Civil War, World War I or II, the War of 1812 ... .We just have to make sure it's educational enough to be included in the Smithsonian's program, " Valentino said.

Glenn Couvillon, managing director of Travel South USA, said during a recent conference on tourism in Memphis, "Ten years ago, who would have thought heritage tourism would be such a major force within our industry? As delegates to the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism in 1995, we learned that travelers were adding new elements to their vacations. Along with attractions, beaches and shopping, they were adding historic, cultural and nature-based components to their itineraries.

"Travel South supports the development and packaging of our Southern heritage tourism product. I don't know of any other region within our country that offers a richer and more diverse product than the South."

The Smithsonian Study Tours focus on educational travel programs reflecting interests and concerns of the Smithsonian Institution. The program offers 360 tours to 250 destinations worldwide each year.

Participation in the tours is offered as a membership benefit of The Smithsonian Associates. Annual membership dues are $28.

Study tours are designed to allow participants to select the travel/ educational experiences they find the most fulfilling to their specific interests. And in-depth tours allow tourists to gain a deeper understanding of the area and topic by providing an appropriate schedule and limiting groups to 24 to 30 members.

Tours are led by educators who are versed in the topics and region of interest. Their expertise is included with the cost, as are accommodations based on single or double occupancy, sightseeing, special activities and lectures, transportation while touring, admission fees, gratuities and most meals.