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In 1943, an instant city arose on the high desert plateau of Northern New Mexico. During World War II, this city created not just the atomic bomb, but a community. In an atmosphere of secrecy and wartime urgency, the men, women, and children of the Army post at Los Alamos struggled with shortages, isolation, suspicion, and intense pressure not just to work, but live in strange new land where the federal government subsidized everything and where even six-year-olds obtained security clearances. \"Family Secrets\" narrates the development of the community at Los Alamos from 1943 to 1957, from its war years through the instability of the late Forties to the intense debates over the hydrogen bomb. The dissertation concludes with the opening up of the city in 1957 as security passes no longer were needed for entry into the residential areas and the fences surrounding those parts of the town were removed. Two key themes emerge in \"Family Secrets.\" First, secrecy, not just at the laboratory but throughout the community, dominated the lives of the people on the Hill. How did husbands, wives, and children respond to the enforced silence of Army security during the war and national security after the war? The second key issue revolves around safety in the community. With the laboratory handling toxic materials, what safeguards were installed to protect the health of their families in the nearby residential areas? In addition to creating nuclear weapons to safeguard the nation in the arms race with the Soviet Union, Los Alamos also established a model suburban community, complete with ranch-style homes and a modern shopping mall, to offer an alternative vision of the future of the Atomic Age to an anxious nation. \"Family Secrets\" is a social history of a unique but intensely important outpost on the technological frontiers of the Cold War. In addition to harnessing the atom for military uses, Los Alamos became a fountain of hope to counter the fear of a nuclear Armageddon as it showcased the possibilities of an atomic utopia.