Smith & Peifly in Allentown became one of thousands of buildings, including schools, churches, government and business offices, that Federal Civil Defense Administration officials designated as public fallout shelters. ![]() Kennedy encouraged Americans to build their own shelters and asked for $207 million for the civil defense program, which would identify public buildings around the country that could provide shelter in the event of nuclear contamination. Kennedy's 1961 speech in which he said the United States would defend Berlin, even to the brink of nuclear war. Private fallout shelters got a big push after President John F. So we really see it permeating the entire culture." Rose, author of "One Nation Underground: The Fallout Shelter in American Culture." Every magazine had a story on fallout shelters. "Civil Defense officials would talk to women's groups and try to sell them on the idea that preparing for a home shelter was part of home economics and it wasn't any different from grandma's pantry," says Kenneth D. Civil Defense posters of the era showed families cheerfully building their bomb shelters and stocking them for a two-week stay. ![]() People were wondering about places to go, about fallout shelters."įallout shelters are iconic for Baby Boomers. 11 attacks, we were getting calls from citizens. "When I first came into the program, if you would talk about anything related to nuclear fallout or any of those issues, basically people would laugh. "It's come full circle," says Nick Tylenda, coordinator of the Northampton County Emergency Management Agency, who joined the agency in 1977.
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