Manhattan is the latest TV drama to suck me in. The series chronicles the lives of fictional scientists, their families, and the military in 1943, all living at the compound in Los Alamos where Robert Oppenheimer and his team developed the atomic bomb. It’s the second original scripted series from WGN America, giving more credence to the idea that television is undergoing a seismic change, with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and Yahoo producing high-quality original programming.

Indeed, no longer should we look to the 1950s as the Golden Age of television. We’re living that right now.

Manhattan is great television. Critics and viewers alike have heaped high praise on it, even if ratings haven’t matched. In addition to the show itself, though, Manhattan has presented a huge opportunity to a small organization. And the Atomic Heritage Foundation has stepped up to the challenge.

A mere 12 years old, the American Heritage Foundation is “dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Age and its legacy,” according to its website. The association’s president and founder, Cynthia Kelly, was a senior executive at the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and taught history before beginning her two-decade stint in government work. Now, as leader of the AHF, she and her small team work with Congress, the Department of Energy, the National Park Service, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and the former Manhattan Project communities to preserve and interpret historic sites and develop useful and accessible educational materials for veterans, teachers, and the general public. The group is also committed to establishing a Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

With the TV series boosting interest in the Manhattan Project and its Los Alamos setting, it seems a natural fit for some AHF public relations. Kelly penned a guest column for Oak Ridge Today, a news site for the Oak Ridge, Tennessee area. Kelly used the guest column to address the accuracy of the show, adding fascinating bits of history like this:

While it has achieved great moments of dramatic tension, “Manhattan” falls short in conveying the project’s lighter, more human side: the martini parties at the Oppenheimer’s, hiking and horseback rides, and other recreational activities that were essential to release tension. While there have been a few lighter moments, the constant pressures of the war, interpersonal rivalries, and invasive security measures predominate.

I won’t speculate as to why a Tennessee site is the only one in which a guest column or interview appears, although it’s safe to assume the AHF doesn’t have a bundle of cash sitting around for media outreach. But the Foundation has employed a brilliant technique on its own website, using its blog to review each episode of the series, focusing on what the producers and writers got right and where they missed the historical mark. In its review of episode 4, for example, the review notes that “‘Manhattan’ continues to portray Oppenheimer as brusque with his subordinates, but this episode also highlighted his eloquence in his toast to Bohr. We are looking forward to seeing where Oppenheimer’s storyline goes and which other real scientists the show chooses to introduce. We would love to see Richard Feynman play a prank on somber Frank Winter!”

I make a beeline over to the blog as soon as I’ve seen an episode. The context adds an extra dimension to the series I can’t get anywhere else.

Linking itself to the WGN series is just one of the ways the AHF is using the web to attract interest. Recognizing the surging use of audio online, the Foundation has introduced never-before-heard interviews of leading Manhattan Project figures, including Robert Oppenheimer and Lt. Gen. Leslie R. Groves. The Foundation says the interviews offer insights into the minds of those racing to complete the world’s first atomic bomb before Nazi scientists beat them to it.

The collection of audio recordings is housed on a microsite, “Voices of the Manhattan Project.”

Between its recognition that audio is heating up online and that a TV show can draw attention to its cause, the AHF has generated buzz at little cost. It’s an example other organizations with limited resources can follow.