Title: One Nation Under Ground Civil Defense in the U.S.
1One Nation Under GroundCivil Defense in the U.S.
Meet Bert the Turtle from a 1950 civil defense
film
2Civil Defense in the Atomic Age
- Merging of Cold War military ethics with the cult
of domesticity. - Allows us to see larger currents of American
history - Ex should the govt encourage public shelters
(communistic) or private ones (American-
style)? - What was the proper amount of militarization of
civilian society? - Consider this all in light of govt response to
9/11
3Civil Defense Institutionalized
- Prior to 1950 little attention to civil
defense. This changed with Joe-1 and Korea. - January 1951 Truman creates the Federal Civil
Defense Administration (FCDA). - Motto Survive, Recover, and Win
- Role Education and training raise Americas
bomb consciousness with practical matters of
implementation left to state and city level
(shades of 9/11?)
4- Question of civil defense touched on many other
issues in American history - Civilian vs. military control and creation of a
garrison state. - The proper role of government and citizen
entitlements. Whose responsibility was civil
defense? - Active (bomb, missiles male) vs. passive
(comfort, aid female) - Civil defense should reflect the American Way of
Life
5- Civil defense debate, in other words, reflected
larger political agenda and issues of the day.
6Preaching the Gospel of Self-Help
- Cold War militarization turned into individual
citizens responsibility. - Sec. of Def. Robert McNamara (1961)
- certainly the Federal Government, the State,
and the local governments all have parts to play,
but most importantly, its the responsibility of
each individual to prepare himself and his family
for that thermonuclear strike.
7- Why self-help?
- FCDA had a limited vision of the assistance it
would provide to citizens and for how long.
8- One citizens indignant response to DIY
- The legislators have passed the buck to the
individual citizen. They have in effect said
every American family for itself and the devil
take the hindmost.
9A is for Atom, B is for Bomb School Children
and Civil Defense
- Civil defense as antidote to atomic panic and
anxiety. - Panic was a major concern press mentioned
panic 13 times more in 1953 than in 1948. - Educational material sanitized words like
atomic warfare replaced by major emergency.
10- Two major efforts aimed at kids
- Air raid drills
- Identification efforts.
11(No Transcript)
12Duck and cover drill 1951
13Changes to School Architecture
- Double duty philosophy as administrators
justified changes in school design to reasons not
associated with civil defense. - Ex The Wall of Light design done away
with...fewer windows better for AV purposes and
also was safer.
14Domesticating the Bomb
- Civil defense integrated into safety education
and home economics classes. Attempts to tame
the Bomb and make the unthinkable ordinary. - Ex decorating and stocking a shelter
- Spokeswoman for National Education Association
nuclear attack as another potential hazard of
modern living - Air raid drills compared to fire drills
15Educating the Public
- Selling civil defense one of FCDAs major tasks.
- Enlists the help of Madison Avenue advertising
experts. - Stressed idea that civil defense was a moral
defense self-help praised and dependency
stigmatized. - These efforts also tended to put a happy face on
the Bomb
16- 1951 pamphlet Survival Under Atomic Attack
- Atom splitting is just another way of causing an
explosion - Should you happen to be one of the unlucky
people right under the bomb, there is practically
no hope of living through itBeyond 2 miles, the
explosion will cause practically no death at
all.
17- Facts About Fallout a government publication
from 1955.
18(No Transcript)
19Civil Defense as Representative of American
Culture
20Alerting the Public
- Creation of a civil defense infrastructure
- Air raid sirens, interstate highway system
- CONELRAD National alerting system establish by
Truman in 1951
21The Iconography of Civil Defense
22(No Transcript)
23Civil Defense Barbie and Ken??
24Civil Defense eye candy
25Civil Defensereal candy.
700 calories a dayyum.
26(No Transcript)
27Andof course, the inevitable pit toilet.
28Civil Defense Class and Race
- Self-help and privatization of shelter was
predicated on suburbanization and home/car
ownership. - What about the rest of us?
- Labor how would industrial production be
organized after an atomic war? Workers rights? - Policy of industrial decentralization pursued
therefore, suburban industrial parks.
29- Civil defense for minorities and poor
- Jim Crow and Civil Defense
- Idea of class competition for shelters and thus
survival. - Racial fears in white America
- NAACP used civil defense to bring racial
inequality to the fore fusion of civil rights
and civil defense
30Part TwoFrom Duck and Cover to Run Like
Hell
- Civil defense in the era of the hydrogen bomb and
the ICBM. - Operation Cue (1955)
- Mass Evacuation Plans Operation Alert
(1954-1961) and the Interstate Highway System - The Shelter Movement
31Operation Cue
- 1955 depiction of an atomic attack on a typical
American town.
32Operation Cue test shot
33One of the buildings that survived the atomic
bomb at Operation Cue. This building was on
display at the Nebraska State Fair in 1955.
34Nuclear Family
35(No Transcript)
36One of the houses of Doom Town lit by light
from atomic explosion
37(No Transcript)
38(No Transcript)
39- Before and After pictures show survival as a
morality play and public relations effort. - Helped define who and what would survive a
nuclear attack.
40Operation Alert
- Series of civil defense drills from 1954-1961.
- Took places simultaneously in dozens of U.S.
cities citizens were told they were in target
areas and were required to take cover. - National socio-drama
41- Evacuation and shelter techniques practiced.
- 1955 Even the federal government (including
Eisenhower) were evacuated. - The day after a drill, newspapers would publish
statistics with numbers of casualties and so
forth. - Operation Alert also became focus of numerous
peace protests by people (especially mothers) who
refused to run for cover.
42New Yorkers scurry for shelter during Operation
Alert.
43Civil Defense for Congress
- Door to secret fallout shelter for Congress in
White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia.
44- Despite the drills, Eisenhower remained deeply
pessimistic about success of evacuation. - You cant have that kind of warThere just
arent enough bulldozers to scrape the bodies of
the streets.
45- Planners, however, maintained the fiction that a
mass evacuation under nuclear attack was more
akin to an evening rush hour commute.i.e. escape
to the suburbs!
46Popular Joke in the Soviet Union in the 1960s
- Q What should you do in case of a nuclear
attack. - Get a shovel and a sheet and walk slowlyto the
nearest cemetery. - Why slowly?
- You mustnt start a panic.
47The Shelter Movement
48Early Shelter Debate During Truman Era
- Public shelters vs. private shelters?
- Early plans for public shelters were also used by
urban planners to achieve other goals - New Deal fears
- Dislike of Soviet-style public shelters
- Cost (estimated 32 billion in 1956)
49Renewed Interest During Eisenhower Era
- Evacuation combined with personal shelters.
- More of Youre on your own
- Little to no tax incentive to build personal
shelters. - Civil defense still competed with Pentagon
requests to build more bombs and missiles.
50- Symbolism of the personal shelter
- Shelters seen as representing basic American
values
51What the well-stocked bomb shelter has this
yearcirca 1961.
- Supplies include 14-day food supply that could
be stored indefinitely, a battery-operated radio,
auxiliary light sources, a two-week supply of
water, and first aid, sanitary, and other
miscellaneous equipment, ca.1957.
52Shelters in Practice
- Despite the attention given to private backyard
shelters in the 1950s, the number built was very
low. - Family shelter program more of a policy issue,
public curiosity, and media hype than actual
construction boom. - Why?
53Fallout Shelter Crisis, 1960-62
- Nuclear-tipped ICBM now the main threat.
- J.F. Kennedy determined to make awake U.S. from
apathy and make shelter a priority. - April 1961 JFK urges citizens to plan to
protect their own families. - Federal civil defense agency gets 6000 letters a
day. - Intense interest in private shelters
54(No Transcript)
55- Nuclear disarmament groups attack shelter idea,
claiming they would serve no purpose and
encourage false confidence. - Also, as before, debates over who would be saved
- John Kenneth Galbraith in letter to Kennedy
called civil defense plans a design for saving
Republicans and sacrificing Democrats - Moral questions sparked as some clergy were asked
whether people had Christian duty to let others
into their shelters.
56- As the Berlin crisis cooled, the panic subsided
someuntil October 1962. - Like before, when the crisis ended, civil defense
itself went back underground until the Reagan
years.
57- Reagan yearscivil defense gets renewed
attention. - Now under control of Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) - Proposes 7 year plan costing 4.2B
- Giggle or shiver?
58- During Reagan administration, one spokesman for
civil defense (in)famously spoke - Dig a hole, cover it with a couple of doors, and
then throw three feet of dirt on top. Its the
dirt that does it Everyones going to make it if
there are enough shovels to go around. - Thomas K. Jones, 1981, as reported in the LA
Times - Hmmmmight there be a shovel gap between the US
and the USSR?
599/11 and Nuclear FearsFrom duck and cover to
duct and smother?
60Parallels Between Then and Now
- Make a kit, Make a plan, and Be prepared
- From Dept. of Homeland Security)
- Return to Youre on your own?
- Renewed militarization of American society after
9-11.