With nearly 53 years living and working in Oak Ridge, TN, Ray Smith has developed an extensive understanding and appreciation of the heritage of Oak Ridge’s history, especially the Manhattan Project era and resulting technological advances during ensuing years. For the last 10 years of his 47-year career with the Y-12 National Security Complex, he served as the official Y-12 Historian. Ray now serves as the Historian for the city of Oak Ridge, TN. He was appointed to that position in December 2015.

Ray has co-produced the award-winning and highly acclaimed Secret City: The War Years and Secret City: 1945–2006 documentary films that have become the definitive history of Oak Ridge. He has also produced a four-episode television series of 30-minute programs on the history of the Y-12 National Security Complex, A Nuclear Family, which has won four platinum Remi awards in the World Fest-Houston International Film Festival. He completed the compilation of twelve documentary short films including the award winning Our Hidden Past series into a two DVD set, Y-12 Anthology. His most recent documentary film, produced in January 2018, is Ed Westcott– Photographer, a tribute to the famous Manhattan Project and Department of Energy photographer without whose exceptional photographs our Oak Ridge and DOE history would not be nearly so well documented. The documentary film can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYvzw9f8M8A.

In 2017, Ray was appointed a commissioner on the Tennessee Historical Commission and is now serving his second three-year term. He has served on several boards for charitable organizations, one a state level board, The Tennessee Children's Home, of which he is currently the past chairman. He is also on the board of directors of the East Tennessee Historical Society and the nation board of directors of the Atomic Heritage Foundation. In 2018, Ray assisted Dr. Lee Riedinger, Professor of Physics and Director, Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education at the University of Tennessee, teach an honors course, Science and History of the Manhattan Project. The course materials have formed the basis of a book to be published in 2024, Critical Connections, How Partnerships formed at the Dawn of the Atomic Age Helped Transform a University, a National Laboratory, and a City.

Ray is the author of 18 books of Historically Speaking newspaper columns published over the past 17 years.

He has published 10 books of local nature photographs, produced a 40-image photographic show and was chosen as the exclusive source to provide photographs to decorate the TownePlace Hotel as well as a portion of the Y-12 Federal Credit Union. His photographs also decorate other offices in Oak Ridge and some company websites.

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