Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was one of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities during World War II, and this institution centers on how that wartime community shaped the lives of the people who lived and worked there. Its emphasis is the social experience of daily life in a secret city rather than the scientific and engineering work carried out in Oak Ridge. That perspective distinguishes it from the nearby American Museum of Science and Energy, which focuses on the project’s technical story. It is also part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, connecting Oak Ridge’s local experience to a wider effort to preserve this pivotal chapter in twentieth-century history.