Silver, Fran

              
ORAL HISTORY OF FRANCES (FRAN) SILVER
Interviewed by Keith McDaniel
February 27, 2013
 
MR. MCDANIEL: This is Keith McDaniel and today is February 27, 2013. I am at the home of Fran Silver here in Oak Ridge. Fran, thank you for taking time to talk with us.
MRS. SILVER: Thank you for inviting me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Let's start at the beginning.
MRS. SILVER: Okay.
MR. MCDANIEL: Let's start at the very beginning. Tell me where you were born and raised - something about your family.
MRS. SILVER: Alright. I was born, raised in Boston, Massachusetts. I got all my education there. Left it for one short trip taking a class at Brandeis with Max Lerner, who used to be the editor of a paper called "PM".  
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. SILVER: He invited the class to New York. And we got on the bus and class went to New York and that was the first time I was out of Boston.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, is this when you were in high school?
MRS. SILVER: I was in college.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, you were in college?
MRS. SILVER: I lived all my life and did all my activities in Boston. I grew up in a tenement area and was basically Jew and Italian Catholic, a few Irish thrown in for good measure and it was ok. It taught me a lot. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you have brothers and sisters?
MRS. SILVER: I'm an only child. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay, what did your parents do?
MRS. SILVER: I'm a first generation American.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really? Okay.
MRS. SILVER: My parents, my mother emigrated from Russia - it's a long, complicated story. Generational story, the first people that come over are the father and a couple of sons. They put the money aside, then the next wave comes over which was my grandmother, my aunt and my mother and that was somewhere 1918, whatever, that early immigration. We were a three generation family living in a flat.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. SILVER: That was okay. That kind of environment teaches you a lot and makes you very rich in terms of understanding and wonderful memories because everybody would open the windows on Saturday and through the fire escape you could always hear the Italian families listening to the operas at the Met and so people just keep the window open to their fire escape and that's how Saturdays were spent, it's weird, when you weren't sitting on a stoop. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: The greatest influences in my life were, in a funky way probably, were my grandparents. My father died shortly after I was born, or that's what I was told, he disappeared. My grandfather probably had the greatest influence on my life. Mainly 'cause he would pick me up every day after school and walk home with me and want a detail of every single thing that happened. And the only time after that I left Boston was when Ernie and I got married in '54. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. SILVER: And I did not, and we as part of our honeymoon, we bought a used Chevy and started the trip to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, before you get there, that was '54, now you said you were in college --
MRS. SILVER: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: -- you went to college. What did you study?
MRS. SILVER: My interest was social work, but at that time it was sort of an eight year program, or forever.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MRS. SILVER: So, I became interested in working with nursery children, so basically it was nursery school education, which was very good because it led me on to some other interests, which were not right at that time.  
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. SILVER: But at the time I did intake at Boston City in the ER. I always worked, so I was a trolley commuter to college.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. SILVER: After work, it takes a lot of years to get a degree that way and a lot of riding on a trolley and if you persevere, you make it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. Now, when did you meet Ernie? 
MRS. SILVER: I met Ernie in '52. It was a wonderful, romantic moment. Anybody who knew Ernie knew that he was very verbal and always up for a good debate, and we met at a debate. The question was "Should the Boston Public Library take off the shelf a book called 'The Silken Curtain'?". I can’t remember the author right now. And Ernie could debate any issue - just give him the side.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: Obviously, I felt passionate. The book should not be taken off shelves anywhere. And we met because after the debate, I asked Ernie how he could possibly have this point of view. That started our romance. And it's been good.
MR. MCDANIEL: So, you met him there, was he out of college already, or was he still in college?
MRS. SILVER: No, he was finishing, I would say he was just graduating with a Physics degree at Boston University. We hadn't met because he was a full time student and I was a traveling student and had just received a scholarship to do graduate work at Harvard. So that was our goal, he was to get through Harvard, pick up a masters, and get married. 
MR. MCDANIEL: And get married. How did that work out?
MRS. SILVER: Terrific! Just long enough and when he finished, and maybe I'm jumping ahead --
MR. MCDANIEL: It's okay.
MRS. SILVER: -- he became very interested in nuclear reactors. And there was this wonderful opportunity to go to the only place that was doing it and so he applied for a fellowship here.
MR. MCDANIEL: And that was in '56?
MRS. SILVER: '54.
MR. MCDANIEL: '54, okay.
MRS. SILVER: And he was one of only, I think there were 43 people in that class. It was called Nuclear School of Reactor Technology; you probably have a lot of info on that. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. 
MRS. SILVER: Ernie committed early on to nuclear energy and we all joined him, and I still think it's the best green power - I've not changed my mind.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you all were married -- 
MRS. SILVER: We were married in Boston. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: Our honeymoon consisted of driving to Oak Ridge. I was 24, never out of Boston, never on a car trip that went beyond anywhere. We never owned a car, obviously. And here we were on the Skyline Drive going to Washington, going to Virginia. We had a couple of sleeping bags so that we could camp out and I don't do that anymore, sleeping in a sleeping bag on rocky ground, it was a wonderful adventure for us. 
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet it was.
MRS. SILVER: We had an apartment in Cambridge when we first got married. It was about the size of my living room. If you wanted to use the kitchen, you had to move the board to cover the burners on the stove. If you wanted to use the stove, you had to vise versa.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MRS. SILVER: Well, you can imagine my elation when they showed us the apartment on Vanderbilt.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. So, so --
MRS. SILVER: I could not believe that was all ours. 
MR. MCDANIEL: So, when you came to Oak Ridge, where did you stay the first day or two?
MRS. SILVER: There were apartments for students who were going to reactor school. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay, alright.
MRS. SILVER: The rent was, I can't remember if it was $44.00 a month of $55.00 a month and Ernie was getting a stipend of $331.00 a month. And I asked him to bring it all home in money and we would, (how many people have done this?) envelopes--
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly, exactly.
MRS. SILVER: We thought we were so rich.
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet!
MRS. SILVER: And Ernie had - it was a wonderful period in the life of science. And I think that's something which one reflects on over and over again. 
MR. MCDANIEL: And I imagine it was also a very wonderful time in the life of Oak Ridge as a community as well. 
MRS. SILVER: It was incredible. We--
MR. MCDANIEL: Let’s talk a little bit about Ernie's career. And then I want to go back and talk about your--
MRS. SILVER: Ernie had a wonderful career. I think it's a pity if a person wakes up in the morning and doesn't want to go to work but has to go. Ernie never woke up a morning when he wasn't ready to go out to the Lab. He was excited about everything he did. He made wonderful contributions - I don't remember how many papers he published. He was honored by Fellowships by the American Nuclear Society, which was one of his big interests. He loved his experimental work. If you're a scientist and you're an experimental physicist, there are no toys that are large enough for you. And there are no risks that you're not willing to take to play with those toys. He built some wonderful machines, some of them we have pictures of. He ended his career, and it was a very good one, by becoming very involved in nuclear safety. And he was editor of a journal called "Nuclear Safety," which received many, many awards. And Ernie was not born in the United States, but he was an absolute superb words man. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Really? Huh.
MRS. SILVER: And he edited the most incredible paper from people all over the world who were considering nuclear safety, who were doing various different kinds of experiments. Ernie really had a wonderful career. And I'm so grateful because he died so young. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. When did he pass away? 
MRS. SILVER: It will be thirteen years the 21st of June.
MR. MCDANIEL: And how old was he?
MRS. SILVER: He was 70.
MR. MCDANIEL: 70. Okay, alright.
MRS. SILVER: And we were just very blessed. There are certain things that happen in one's life that you become a part of at a certain time. Ernie came to the United States with his family as a result of the Holocaust, so basically his family was Holocaust survivors and were able to get out of Germany at the very last moment of the occupation, through France and occupied Spain. Spain was just recovering from the Civil War. And Ernie likes, shares this story that there they were in these enclosed trains with nothing and there were Spanish people begging for food.  
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? Oh my.
MRS. SILVER: And you get such a different perspective. His father, because he was president of the Jewish community in Munich, spent six weeks in Auschwitz and that was when the family got the signal. And those were difficult because the Nazis expected people to play that role, to raise money to ransom other people.   
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: So he was 11, when he came. He had very little accent except when he counted, he always counted in German "fiddliy-fitschswen-ship-sen" or his math. 
MR. MCDANIEL: His math, right.
MRS. SILVER: But his English was superb and he, the journal was a great success. We were lucky to come to Oak Ridge at a time when I think science was so well respected. And one of the questions I was asked by my peer group in Boston when we got married - "Is he going to be able to make a living as a physicist?" I don't know. But you know what in that time in science everybody was making a living.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure. Absolutely.
MRS. SILVER: It was such a different period and we feel so - I think he felt so blessed that he could work in something he loved every morning of his work life, and get paid for it. 
MR. MCDANIEL: And get paid for it. So, when y'all came here as newlyweds -- 
MRS. SILVER: We were newlyweds green as can be.
MR. MCDANIEL: I mean brand spanking newlyweds. 
MRS. SILVER: My life in Boston was a little bit fuller than Ernie's because he was still a student. I had been more involved in some of the community life. I lived in Ward 3, Kennedy's ward. And there were always good things going on politically - Boston's a very political environment. And we always said we had a mixed marriage because Ernie's friends were very technical and my friends were all in the social sciences. So at our engagement party there were all the techies and physicists at one side and all my social friends, who were in the social sciences, you know psychology, psychiatry, social work, on the other. Not much meshing at that time. 
(ADJUSTS MICROPHONE)
MR. MCDANIEL: So when you came to Oak Ridge, he was in the Reactor School and what did you do? Of course, Oak Ridge and, especially in the fifties, Oak Ridge and Boston were two worlds.
MRS. SILVER: Two worlds apart. Absolutely. Well the first thing we had when we came to Oak Ridge of course was his Reactor School group. And we were all living in these apartments, 101 Vanderbilt. So there was this already formed group.  
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: Part of me, because I was already an activist in Boston, partly professionally and partly out of my own interest to change the world, I became much more interested in the community. And one of the only people that I met in my life, because that Labor Day of '54 was one of those weekends where the weather stretched and no day went under 102, and that was a little bit warm for a Bostonian day after day. I got ill but during that period before that, I had met some of the community people. One of the things that surprised Ernie and me at that point when we got here, because we were both very involved in Jewish life in Oak Ridge, was that there was a synagogue in Oak Ridge. I mean who ever heard of a synagogue in Tennessee?
MR. MCDANIEL: In the hills of East Tennessee.
MRS. SILVER: Tennessee? A synagogue? But that period when I wasn't feeling well, one of the people that brought me soup was Marge Weinberg. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? 
MRS. SILVER: Now, her husband was not Director of the Lab yet, but Associate Director and I could not believe --
MR. MCDANIEL: He was a big shot anyway though, wasn't he? 
MRS. SILVER: -- that this woman could find time to bring over some soup. Because I couldn't get out of bed for a while I, you know, the heat had gotten to me. That evolved into meeting a lot of people, between the synagogue and between my being a community activist, between my interest in subbing or whatever, because I thought I would work, at least until I had kids and then I was sure I wouldn't work because I never had anyone at home, okay? So, I knew I didn't want to work or I hoped I wouldn't have to work, I should put it that way. And I'm not ashamed of saying that. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Ok.
MRS. SILVER: I became very involved in the community partly because the people we met were teaching in Reactor School and they were a terrific group, they were an incredible group.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were you surprised at the type of people --  
MRS. SILVER: I loved it.
MR. MCDANIEL: -- that were here. I mean I'm sure you assumed that there would be this wealth of intellectuals and creative folks but -- 
MRS. SILVER: I really didn't know what to expect. I knew that this was something that Ernest wanted to do and I was on board. And I was ready to leave Boston, and so was he. And we both knew this would open a world of opportunity. When Ernest was finished with Reactor School, he had seven job offers.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MRS. SILVER: Which is you know, unbelievable today. Back then we had both really, really felt Oak Ridge was where we wanted to be. I loved the community and I was not turned off by the fact that there was this Appalachian part of it. I kind of liked that as a matter of fact, maybe because it took me back to the west end. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, exactly. 
MRS. SILVER: Okay? I just like the, how can I explain it, there was a vitality, there was a buzz - there was a buzz in the air and that buzz felt - just stimulated you. And it was a community where everybody came from somewhere else, we all know that. But I was really impressed with the women I met here. The women were smart - and they were not all working, okay? Because I went through this other period in Oak Ridge where if you were a smart woman you should be working. And I kept thinking back to these wonderful, smart women and they didn't really seem to carry a lot of that baggage with them.    
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. Well this was --
MRS. SILVER: And they were so smart.
MR. MCDANIEL: -- this was the fifties and sixties too, this was when ya know, I would imagine that they were smart women because smart men are attracted to smart women, you know?
MRS. SILVER: I think that's true, but I also felt they could hold their own. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MRS. SILVER: And I learned a lot from them.
MR. MCDANIEL: And I would imagine that you got involved in that community of smart women, who did things.
MRS. SILVER: They - exactly.
MR. MCDANIEL: So, let’s talk about that, let’s talk about the things that you all did. 
MRS. SILVER: The first person  I - one of the first women I met - The first woman I met, community wise, was Marge. The second woman I met was a woman who was very involved in political life, a strong, strong yellow Democrat. Her name was Mary McNiece. She was a terror but she was incredibly effective and that turned me on. But the other thing that turned me on was that some of the things that I could do in Boston, and was doing, I felt that I could do things here and where in Boston I was one of a lot of kind of liberal minded, or here it sort of made a difference. One of the first things that Ernest and I did, believe it or not, was beginning to teach in the Scarboro school.  
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. SILVER: Okay? That was my first activity and the person that turned us on to that was Blanche Dresner. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. SILVER: There was a call out. There were some people doing this and Blanch said "Do you want to do reading?" and I said "Sure!" It was an incredible experience. Then I came across a man whose name was Tony Armstrong, he’s gone. I said "what would you like to learn, Tony?" I don't know what education this man had. He said "I'd like to learn about physics." So I said to Ernie when I came home "There's this really nice man, Tony Armstrong, who would like to learn about physics. I don't know that he can read, but would you be willing to come down and, ya know, see what it's like?" And so there was - and this was sort of one to one, and then there was this wonderful principal at Scarboro - Arizona Officer. She was terrific and before I knew it I was involved in, long before the word came out, in a little literacy program and do you know that I still hear from some of those kids? 
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MRS. SILVER: They're old. 
MR. MCDANIEL: And for people that don't know, the Scarboro community was the black community in Oak Ridge and that was the black school. 
MRS. SILVER: Right, right.
MR. MCDANIEL: And black in the south, a lot of times meant illiterate, didn't it at that point? 
MRS. SILVER: I didn't really know that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Or to a certain degree, illiteracy,
MRS. SILVER: Right. Because the black community up north, that I knew and worked with on projects, were really what you might call, almost upper middle class. Trying to make a difference but were quite literate.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MRS. SILVER: So, my first real experience with people wanting to learn to read was here. And you know, really wanting to learn to read was quite different in Boston, you know, you walk into Scrael Church downtown and everything would be set up - it was an entirely different situation. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. SILVER: I formed great friendships in that community. Which are unfortunately now dead, except for a couple of their children who I still get Christmas cards or notes that say "Ms. Silver I want you to know that I've just done this." 
MR. MCDANIEL: I interviewed, just now when you mentioned this, I interviewed the child of one of those black community activists who, and he mentioned your name. Stephens. 
MRS. SILVER: Oh yes! I felt very, very, at home in the black community, In fact, so at home that one evening that I was over at the Dark Ages, remember the radios that were under the dashboard or whatever, I came out and mine was gone. And there was a beer joint next to the daycare center. I walked into that beer joint, got up on a table, and said "One of you 'blank' just took my car radio out and I want you to know I'm angry about it”. And I walked out. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MRS. SILVER: That was it. I was angry! I was angry because I felt that there was that trust - I mean it didn't bug me forever but I felt better having done it. But the next big project which followed that is that for 26 years of my life I worked at the Scarboro Daycare Center. And as part of that, we tried to get some white families, and we tried to get some on to story stuff and all that rekindled my interest because I don't think you can get a child young enough, and particularly these days because, I think, they expect, they expect children that are going into Kindergarten, I think, to be able to do algebra, and I'm very opposed to that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh sure, absolutely. 
MRS. SILVER: Very opposed, okay?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah.
MRS. SILVER: So, we didn't, then it was just daycare and we were doing the best we could by enriching kids’ lives. So that was that. But Keith, there are so many things that I have done and that I really and so grateful to be able to have done it. And-- 
MR. MCDANIEL: Let’s talk about some of the others. You talked about the Scarboro school and you're involved in other things in the community, I know you were. 
MRS. SILVER: Well, I had a young woman friend who was pressured into working and so as we were sitting around over coffee, said, "Let's do a catering business" - did you know about that?   
MR. MCDANIEL: No. 
MRS. SILVER: Did you know about Creative Caterers?
MR. MCDANIEL: No, tell me about that.
MRS. SILVER: I had the first catering business in Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? What year was that? 
MRS. SILVER: It was called Creative Caterers, I knew you were going to ask me, oh! My first big job was the opening of the American Museum of Science and Energy.
MR. MCDANIEL: The new one?
MRS. SILVER: The new one! 
MR. MCDANIEL: And that was '74? '74 maybe? 
MRS. SILVER: Involved the legislators and everything. Poor Roberta Steiner had to fill crème puffs and she said she almost got in the car and decided she would go to Nashville. And I got everybody working on that, including Ernest. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. 
MRS. SILVER: Holy shit, I mean, it didn't matter what - and one of the reviews afterwards from one of the legislatures said, "Even in the catering business, the people who work know about nuclear energy."   
MR. MCDANIEL: That’s funny.
MRS. SILVER: That was our first big gig!
MR. MCDANIEL: First big gig.
MRS. SILVER: Three women! Oak Ridgers. 
MR. MCDANIEL: So, how long did you do that? 
MRS. SILVER: I did the catering for about 18 years, maybe a little longer. Oh, we were very successful. We were cheap, we were popular, we never had a dead beat, never signed a contract, never had a dead beat. We did some fun things. We even did Lamar Alexander things.  
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MRS. SILVER: And we did great things we did more things we really had a good time. Catering is a happy business. We did weddings and campfires where the wedding cake was melting 'cause the temperature was in the 90s. Someone was stupid enough to want to go to a Boy Scout camp. 
MR. MCDANIEL: There you go!
MRS. SILVER: That was part of my career. 
MR. MCDANIEL: I also know you've been very supportive of the arts in Oak Ridge so let’s talk about that. 
MRS. SILVER: I think I've been on every single arts board in Oak Ridge. Including the one with Snell, who used to be chairman of the Art's Council and the interesting thing about him is that he couldn't stay awake during meetings and so we'd be having this discussion and his eyes would close. The arts, I think, are very important to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: And I think, well I'm very political, okay? 
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. SILVER: I think the Chamber doesn't do a good job, say hey, we're a community of, whatever we are, 26, whatever. Do you realize we have a symphony, an art center, a playhouse?  I mean do you realize how many ways in this community you can entertain yourself? How many things go on any weekend? 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: The arts played a very important part in our life, as you know Ernest was onstage more than once, and was the only Tevia.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? 
MRS. SILVER: Ernest played Tevia, he played it twice. The first time I think was easier for him to romp around. He was in many plays. I worked back stage, I worked back stage very early on I became a prop person, was on the play reading committee, was on the Arts Council, and to me it's all still very, very, important. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: I just finished working on “Rock to Bach,” which is a great thing in Oak Ridge, and the musical they put on, “From Bluegrass to Mozart” was wonderful and its right here in this little community. I think it’s incredible that we are able, and its getting harder. I feel we, I feel today what I did not feel when I came to Oak Ridge in '54. I feel we have an invisible community. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really? 
MRS. SILVER: Who are not supporting these things, and who are not bringing their children to these things. You know, we would take Caroline at 4 with coloring books, it didn't matter, you know, just sit here. Enough candy to make a dentist happy, you just have to sit here. And the same thing was true with theatre and it did rub off, I mean Caroline eventually played the French horn and played it with the symphony for a while. I mean, where else can you do this with your kids?  
MR. MCDANIEL: Exactly.
MRS. SILVER: We don't appreciate what things can be done with kids our emphasis is so much put on where are Oak Ridge students in the mix of things that we're forgetting that we're not teaching the kids that there's arts out there too. But you can tell I'm waiting for education to come full circle. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Let's talk a little bit. Now you said you've always been very political. Did you get involved in political life in Oak Ridge at all?	
MRS. SILVER: Oh yes. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Tell me, talk about that. 
MRS. SILVER: I did get involved in political life through Mary McNiece. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. SILVER: And first thing that, and I wasn't Chairman yet, my picture was on the front page of the Oak Ridger, I couldn't vote yet with a broom and Mary would sweep the Republicans out and they did. I don't know who was running for Senate I can't remember his name. Most recently I was elected and then not elected for another term to the Oak Ridge Housing Authority, which I think plays a very important role in Oak Ridge. I think Oak Ridge has a lot of hidden problems. But I think almost all communities have invisible problems. 
MR. MCDANIEL: But has it changed though the years? I mean have you seen the political influence or responsibility change from the early years of Oak Ridge?
MRS. SILVER: I see less involvement and I think part of that may be that schools require more involvement of parents. I do see less involvement and the involvement that I do see seems to be very selective around a specific issue. And I certainly see less involvement in Oak Ridge at a county level than I saw when I first came.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. SILVER: I'm not effected and I'm not frightened about the change I see, about people moving into Oak Ridge who are upward mobile, because as I tell my friends, they're really not going to stay here very long, they're going to go on to Knoxville.  
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: So, I think our goal is perhaps to see these people that are upward mobile, who are coming from the counties, maybe really ought to stay with us and not look upon it as a first step to moving somewhere else. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: Yeah, I see that kind of change. I ask myself often how, how to change it. I often thought that maybe one way of changing it would be going down on the soccer fields and trying to interact with that group. Although I was a soccer grandma, so you know, I know that soccer becomes the 'thing' and there are a lot of people, you know I live up the street from the soccer field and I don't know how really to reach out. I find my close friends obviously from '54 and on, are gone, I miss them. Making new ones is not easy. I'm entrusted, but you know, I don't think it's as easy for people coming into Oak Ridge - I hope it's easy on a community level, I mean a neighborhood level, and that I know because I'm a stick in the mud. This is the only home I've ever had.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MRS. SILVER: Never lived in a house before. And this little Lane hasn't changed. It is so stable. I mean, you know, we've had deaths, but people hang in. 
MR. MCDANIEL: But there was a time when people in the ‘50s and the ‘60s moved to Oak Ridge, bought a house, and they're still there and they've stayed here their entire career. 
MRS. SILVER: That's right.
MR. MCDANIEL: You know, there are lots and lots of people who did that. 
MRS. SILVER: And I'm one of them!
MR. MCDANIEL: And people don't do that very much anymore. 
MRS. SILVER: That's right. Well, there is this feeling about being upward mobile. Well, we'll talk about this and something else, I had been impressed with those people who stayed in their home. I know you've interviewed Bill Wilcox. He and his -- his wife and I are in a little bridge group. But I'm impressed when I walk into that house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. And I've interviewed folks who could have easily afforded a newer, nicer home, but they were perfectly happy where they were, they liked it, it was their home, and decided to stay there. I've interviewed three or four physicians, a couple who still live in a D house, who I know could have easily --
MRS. SILVER: Yes, I know a few of those.
MR. MCDANIEL: You know what I mean? So, there's a -- it's a generational thing. I really believe it's a generational thing.
MRS. SILVER: Well, you could be right. I mean, only one way I'm going to leave this house, Keith. 
MR. MCDANIEL: I understand.
MRS. SILVER: I love living in a house, I love the land.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's like Dr. Vodopick.
MRS. SILVER: Oh yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: The other day, she told me, she said, "People ask me when I'm going to retire, when I'm going to quit practicing." She says, "When you read my obituary in the newspaper, you'll know that I won't be practicing anymore."
MRS. SILVER: Oh, good for her, and I'm grateful for that. Well, look at Paul Spray.
MR. MCDANIEL: Absolutely, absolutely. Absolutely. 
MRS. SILVER: Paul and Louise and that house, I mean, it's just so full of love. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. 
MRS. SILVER: And we'll talk about Alvin's in a little bit.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly. Let's talk a little bit about Alvin now --
MRS. SILVER: Oh, okay.
MR. MCDANIEL: -- and your friendship with them.
MRS. SILVER: It's a long friendship.
MR. MCDANIEL: As you said, there was a -- she came to bring soup --
MRS. SILVER: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: -- as a young newlywed.
MRS. SILVER: It's a long friendship. And I met Alvin, and I don't think he was director of the Lab yet. I think he was in the process. Fifty -- Christmas of '54, I don't know whether he was Lab Director yet. I don't --
MR. MCDANIEL: I don't remember.
MRS. SILVER: I don't think so. The Weinberg's always had this lovely Christmas Eve event.
MR. MCDANIEL: Pull your necklace down just a little bit.
MRS. SILVER: At which Alvin always --
MR. MCDANIEL: Just a minute, I want you to start over. Okay, there we go.
MRS. SILVER: Okay, better? 
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes.
MRS. SILVER: The Weinberg’s always had this Christmas Eve event, which was families, and which was lively and which gave Alvin a chance to play his piano and Christmas carols. And Ernie and I were sitting on a bench, being the newcomers, right? Not really knowing anyone. And Alvin came over and said, "My wife tells me you will be a very good addition to Oak Ridge." Well, first he said, "How do you do? My name is Alvin Weinberg." He always did that. He did that through his whole life, until the last moments I think we were together. And that's how we met. He was generous, in terms of wanting to be inclusive. And I think that very much was Alvin. Of course, that developed a friendship, he, I guess, became Director of the Lab, they continued to live in that F house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: Which was a wonderful environment. That F house probably entertained more Nobel -- Nobel Prize winners than probably any house we could think of. And Marge cooked. I mean, which is just almost unheard of, today. They never took anyone out who came into town. She cooked.
MR. MCDANIEL: The -- we're going to talk some more about that later, but talk about the Jewish community. Talk a little bit about --
MRS. SILVER: Oh. Well the Jewish community is about to celebrate seventy years. It's amazing. It's probably the smallest religious entity in Oak Ridge. But if one sneezes on West Outer Drive, someone in East Village says "gesundheit." It's a very close community. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. SILVER: It -- unfortunately, I feel a little bit it's like me. I'm trying to find information for this 70th celebration, and its records are terrible. When we got here, we were amazed when there was a synagogue. And not only that, there was a rabbi here. His name was Rabbi Tesla. And for us that environment, both coming from religious homes, we just couldn't believe it. We just couldn't believe that it was all here. The people that formed the community were terrific. A lot of them are gone, a lot of them you knew. Ernie had skills, because he came from an orthodox home, and he was immediately welcomed with open arms. And I had never taught but I could quickly learn. And they had this one building and this one room, which was built by, well, one person you know and I can't imagine him lifting anything: Milt Carrey. But I think what Milt was a supervisor and Ruthie was the entertainer who brought the lunch. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Exactly.
MRS. SILVER: They built this building by themselves and it -- that's all it was. It was a square building. And when they had Sunday School, and there were a lot more people in '55, I think we had ninety kids in this Sunday School, they put up partitions to separate the room 'cause you could hear what's going on in every classroom. You could hear every teacher. But it didn't matter. The spirit was so incredible. And I think still what remains is that spirit of keeping Jewish life alive in Oak Ridge. Historically, you know the Jewish community used Chapel on the Hill, you know, it was Colonel Bernstein involved. But it's a great little community. 
MR. MCDANIEL: You know, I can remember -- I must've been twelve or so, ten or twelve -- I grew up in Kingston at First Baptist Church, and I can remember them bringing us to visit --
MRS. SILVER: Oh, great. 
MR. MCDANIEL: -- the synagogue in Oak Ridge. This must've been '68, '69, something like that.
MRS. SILVER: Wow. Were you surprised there was a synagogue here?  
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, sure. I didn't know anything about it. I just knew we were going to a Jewish synagogue and we were going to watch the way they did things. So --
MRS. SILVER: Well, the synagogue is always open, and -- 
MR. MCDANIEL: Pull your necklace down, your --
MRS. SILVER: Let me take it off.
MR. MCDANIEL: No, the microphone is attached to it.
MRS. SILVER: Oh, sorry.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's okay. I'll fix it here in a minute. 
MRS. SILVER: Okay, did I move it?
MR. MCDANIEL: No, you're good.
MRS. SILVER: We were amazed. We could not believe that we would find this kind of Jewish life here. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. 
MRS. SILVER: We just took to it. We both immediately became involved. We never stopped being involved for a minute. It's much smaller; we don't have a school anymore. But we stay active. We're calling the 70th a "family gathering" because we would like some of the people who are closer to your age to come back, whatever's left of parents, we hope Ruthie Carey's daughter will come back, the Feldmens. You know, people you know. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. SILVER: And we'll see how it all works out. But we are -- we are alive and well and living in Oak Ridge. We are so alive that we decided, for obvious reasons, we ought to be handicap free. So we all dug in a little deep into our pockets. And you know what that's like if you grew up in the Baptist church. We don't quite do it as generously. And built an access-free way of getting into the synagogue without using -- and it's paid for.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MRS. SILVER: Paid for. We're all very fond of Rabbi Victor, who adds a lot to the group. So we'll see. Join us.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, I certainly will. The -- let's talk just for a minute, let's wrap things up here. 
MRS. SILVER: Okay. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Just your thoughts about your life in Oak Ridge over the last 59 years.
MRS. SILVER: It's been a busy one. 
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. SILVER: You mean how does it feel today? Am I happy with it? Yes. Am I still doing things? Yes. Am I still involved? Yes. Do I plan on continuing to be involved? Absolutely. Do I hope things will change? Yes. Does that wrap it up?
MR. MCDANIEL: That's -- that is perfectly fine. Thank you very much, Fran. I appreciate --
MRS. SILVER: I mean -- well, you know --
MR. MCDANIEL: I appreciate it.

[END OF INTERVIEW]