FACES OF
THE PGDP

Velva

"The plant employed some of the most skilled craftspeople in the world, capable of making anything, big or small."

Betty

Sheet Metal Department

"They had people come from all around. People drove two and three hours to get down here because it was such a good job."

Fred

Security Department

"Three generations of my family have worked at the plant, so it’s part of our family in a way. I took pride in my job. There were always first class people working together there."

Ruth

Paducah Resident

"We had two weeks to move from our home on the farm. So many people came here that it was difficult to find a place to live. The entire city and economy was booming once the plant came here."

Joe

Fire Department

"When I was young I worked at Banks Grocery across from the Ferguson Building. I delivered orders across the street an they would tip me 25 or 50 cents. I thought, if those people could afford to tip like that, I want to go work for that place some day."

Marie

Finance Department

"We did not have a car until I started working out there and I financed it through the new C-Plant Federal Credit Union. It helped us have a better standard of living."

Roy

Maintenance Department

"Even during the big snow storms people would find a way to come to work because they wanted to be there."

Lorn

Systems Engineering

"I quickly became a combustible gas expert at the plant. It was important to me that I helped to keep all the people and equipment safe."

Edward

Security Department

"When I went to work out there in 1975, I started at $4.40 an hour. That was twice what I had been making."

Wanda

Maintenance Division

"The PGDP is like a city. It has a medical facility, guards and water plant. The guards knew all the people’s names and badge numbers. The plant had a taxi service, Y-99 which transported people from building to building."

Bradford and Dorothy

Electrical

"If you wanted to work you were helped... all of my supervisors had the attitude of 'How can I help you do your job?'. You can't beat that."

Charlie

Operations

"As far as the plant is to the community - the whole area - it brought the whole area to life."

C.O.

Operations

"It did me good to see women and minorities having a better opportunity and actually getting that opportunity."

Dan and Virginia

Utilities

"They were very good about including families in a lot of things."

Elrod and Burnley

Operations

"It was better than my college work - there were so many and varied experiences you could get."

Marietta and Marie

Maintenance and Finance

"They introduced me to the electric typewriter... and I was trained on the computer."

Adrian

Machinist

"People in Paducah were really fortunate to have the plant come in, because it really changed their style of living."

Alton

Operations

"I started out low, but then we progressed on up the line... I was a shift superintendent when I retired."

Kenny

Electrician

"It was a job - the best in this part of the country."

Charles

Laboratories

"There were people driving from way up in Illinois; way down in Tennessee; way into Missouri; there was even one fella that drove from Evansville, Indiana."

Rodney

Instrumentation

"Engineering drew up the drawings and I built all of the panels for that control room."

Juneteenth Video

FRNP Juneteenth Video

Building on a Legacy: Honoring Black History at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant