Album: There Were Warning Signs

Manhattan Project National Historical Park

The paint shop and print shop at Hanford, Washington produced many posters, signs, and pamphlets. Imagine going to work with your lunch box and paintbrush and spending most of your day painstakingly hand painting the phrase, “Do Not Open During Reactor Operation.” Would you use different fonts, an exclamation point, or perhaps two different colors to capture attention? Whatever your choice, the sign you would make is critical for warning your coworkers of dangers in the workplace. In the Hanford Sign Shop, sign painters faced these decisions daily. Their signs had to catch workers’ attention and communicate dangers such as the risk of potential exposure to high doses of radiation or chemicals.