The Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee is asking all those who are interested to help ring the International Friendship Bell at Bissell Park 77 times at dawn (6:47 am ET) Saturday, August 6^th to commemorate the number of years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.  In addition, an hour before dawn park rangers will light luminarias that have been decorated with messages of peace by community members.  The Luminarias will remain lit throughout the commemoration event.  An Oak Ridge Civic Music Association quartet will be on site throughout the event to provide accompanying music.

Members of the public are invited to take turns ringing the bell.  Each person can ring the bell for whatever reason that speaks to them.  They can ring the bell for lives lost; they can ring the bell for social justice; they can ring the bell for service and sacrifice; they can ring the bell for peace.  After each bell-ringer has rung the bell, they are invited to record the reason why they rang the bell.  Small pieces of paper and pens will be provided.  Bell-ringers will then place the paper in a receptacle, and park staff will later catalog the papers for historical purposes.  

The Park understands that not everyone who wants to ring the bell will be able to come to the August 6 event. Therefore a virtual bell ringing option will be available on the park’s webpage (https://www.nps.gov/mapr/learn/historyculture/ring-the-international-friendship-bell.htm) from 6:00 am EDT on August 6 through midnight PDT on August 9.

The International Friendship Bell is a symbol of unity and will carry the message of peace and international friendship into the future.  At nearly seven feet tall and five feet wide, this 8,300-pound bronze bell hangs at A. K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the uranium for the world’s first atomic weapons was manufactured.  Designed in Oak Ridge and cast in Kyoto, Japan, the relief panels on the bell show peaceful imagery inspired by Tennessee, Japan, and the tragedies of war between the two nations.

The Ringing of the bell event will be at Peace Pavilion in AK Bissel Park 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. For directions and information call 865-482-1942.

Manhattan Project National Historical Park and Pearl Harbor National Memorial will observe the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan, which occurred in August 1945 in the waning days of World War II.  The National Park Service will mark the anniversary of 77 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a way that recognizes these significant moments in world history and reflect on the many wartime sacrifices and losses experienced by millions during World War II. 

For more information or directions, please contact the Manhattan Project National Historical Park at (865) 576-6767.  Visitors are encouraged to visit our website for more information on the park Oak Ridge, TN – Manhattan Project National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).  Follow us on Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ManhattanProjectNPS, park’s Twitter feed at @MnhtnProjectNPS, or on Instagram @manhattanprojectnps.