Primary Sources

Caldwell, Millard. “Civil Defense Training Can Save Lives If Enemy Bombs Fall.” Chicago Star

Publications, 16 Oct. 1951, pp. 1–1.

This is a primary source, a newspaper article informing the public on the actions and

purpose of the CIvil Defence program. It is an informative article, talking about how the Civil

Defence program can help people train on “how to safeguard your home, how to fight fires, and

what steps to take against atomic, biological and chemical warfare”, and is a clear advertisement

of the program. It is displayed on the front page of the newspaper it is published in and therefore

displays the prominence of Civil defence in the everyday lives of people in chicago. Teaching

people on the specifics of civil defence ensures more minds who are concerned about the

potential of a nuclear war, and leaves that idea in them.

"Chicago Fire Dept. - Chicago Civil Defense - IN ACTION." YouTube, 21 Dec. 2010,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1d1elPmZYg. Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.

This is a primary source posted by the Chicago Fire Department. It features a training

drill

taking place in downtown Chicago in the 1960’s by the Chicago Civil Defence- Fire and Rescue

Unit . The location in a heavily populated area results in the civilians being involved and seeing

the precautionary actions taken to prevent a potential tragedy in the event of a disaster. The video

is connected to our research topic because the drills being demonstrated and practiced are a result

of the actions of the Civil Defence Corps, and the events in the video directly involve the history

of Chicago in relation to Civil Defence.

Hanson, Peter. “Civil Defense in Our Community.” Suburbanite Economist, 25 Apr. 1951, pp.

25–25.

This is a primary source, a newspaper article written during the time of the activities of

the Civil Defence. This article recommends some books from local libraries designed to help

with the cause of civil defence by providing knowledge of what do do in case of a nuclear attack.

It shows that an impact of the civil defence program was the proliferation of the concern of

people with the topic, and the book recommendations on the topic of a potential nuclear war

demonstrates that people outside of the civil defence program were worried about it and wanted

to help people to know what to do with materials supplementary to the existing civil defence

program.

Illinois State, Legislature, Assembly, Chicago Civil Defense Corps. Annual Report of Chicago

Civil Defense Corps. 7 Mar. 1960, www.chicagofd.org/images/Quinn_1960_Report.pdf.

Accessed 23 Oct. 2018. 1959 Legislature.

This is a primary source written by Robert J. Quinn, Acting Director of the Chicago Civil

Defense Corps, addressed to Richard J. Daley, Mayor of Chicago. It is an annual report that

summarizes the funds and expenses, as well as the special activities performed throughout the

year of 1959. Specifically, we focused on the report focused around the campaign for National

Civil Defense Day. The source claims that the purpose of National Civil Defense Day was “to

impress upon every citizen the importance of survival actions and incorporate civil defense

preparedness into the patterns of their daily living”, and in addition to the practice of multiple
drills and evacuations, the stress upon the citizens was increased greatly due to the prominence

of a potential emergency. The information presented in the report is reliable and accurate because

it is a primary source directly from the organization running these actions. This source is very

helpful for our research and proving our claim, as the report clearly demonstrates a change in the

daily lives of U.S. citizens, and it is also centered in Chicago and thus central to our research

topic.

"Us Civil Defence (1951)." YouTube, 27 Aug. 2014,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW8XZ_WN_ng. Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.

The video is a primary source of footage from 1951 about US Civil Defence. The video

and announcer describe the precautions being taken to ensure public security and the creation of

this organization by President Truman. Various signs point to emergency shelters, and the most

jarring clip is of the pilots of the US air force are ready at all times to respond, and even have

trial runs in the case of enemy bombers. This public display of caution and preparation for a

large scale disaster greatly increasing suspense and tension in the public, as they see the constant

actions being made to secure the lives of the people. This directly relates to our topic and thesis,

as the policies and drills done by the Civil Defence involve the daily lives of citizens in the

United States.

Zurmuhlen, Frederick. "Public Works Division and Civil Defense." Interview by

Arthur Wallander. Report on Civil Defense, New York Public Radio, 22 Apr.
 1951. New York Public Radio, www.wnyc.org/story/

public-works-division-and-civil-defense. Accessed 16 Jan. 2019.

This interview is a primary source from 1951 about the internal workings and

developments of the US Civil Defence. The radio broadcasted interview was done by Arthur J.

Wallander, who was going around the city departments to see what they had done for the

program of civil defence, which clearly had priority and authority at the time to expect

departments to focus on civil defence preparations. The fact that the interview was broadcasted

across the city meant that the civil defence service was making the public aware of all the real

preparations for the surreal reality of potential nuclear war.Frederick Zurmuhlen, the Public

Works Commissioner, stated in his interview that the Public Works department was undertaking

projects to construct additional sirens across the city to cover all of it. This is done both for the

purposes of an actual attack and drills to prepare the public for the potential armageddon.

Preparation was key to make the jobs of the civil defence workers easier but also served to raise

people’s concern of an impending nuclear exchange.

Secondary Sources

Beardslee, William R. Children's and Adolescents' Perceptions of the Threat of

Nuclear War: Implications of Recent Studies. Boston. National Center for

Biotechnology Information, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK219180/. Accessed

14 Nov. 2018.

This is a secondary source created by William R. Beardslee to research the impacts of

fear of nuclear war on youths. The study analyzes and interviews many individuals of many
different backgrounds to obtain a fair and well-represented the views of the general population of

America. In particular, it mentions a study done in the Chicago area, and it reports that one-fifth

of the students reported concerns about nuclear issues when asked about global problems. All of

these individuals had no shared characteristics or experiences, and this shows the universal fear

felt by all types of people. This source is useful for our claim, as we are looking for the impacts

of nuclear war and the preventative propaganda on the concern of the people. This source

provides detailed information regarding these concerns over nuclear war, and thus it proves and

supports our thesis.

"Fallout Tactics INTRO MOVIE." YouTube, uploaded by GOG.com, 22 Jan. 2009,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbLtBwWK9jI. Accessed 14 Nov. 2018.

This is a secondary source created by Interplay Entertainment, the owner of the Fallout

series at the time, as an introduction to the video game Fallout Tactics. The Fallout series is a

video game series depicting a post nuclear apocalyptic world, and it contains various references

to the time of the Cold War and has a direct parallel of the United States Federal Civil Defense

Administration, aptly named the Civil Defense Administration. This particular intro movie

shows a destroyed city of Chicago, suffering after a nuclear Fallout. The game’s premise and

introduction clearly illustrate the fear and anticipation of a nuclear fallout in the United States,

and it links the cause of this fear to the time that the Federal Civil Defense Administration was

active in preventative measures for this kind of situation. This source is very useful to our

research and demonstrates the impacts of the Civil Defense Program on American culture. The

preparation for a fallout taken by the Civil Defense Program increased the presence of post
nuclear apocalyptic scenarios in American culture, and this is represented in many major cities

and important locations, with Chicago being one of these important places during the time of the

Civil Defense Program.

Goldstein, Gary. “Review: 1982 Documentary 'The Atomic Cafe' Is Back and Kookier than

Ever.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2018,

www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-the-atomic-cafe-review-20180810-stor

y.html.

This is a secondary source referring to the the Cold War movie “The Atomic Cafe,”

which in turn refers to the Civil Defence a number of times. The movie is described in the

article as “a compilation of mostly black-and-white clips from post-World War II era

government-produced training and educational films, newsreels, commercials and more, related

to America’s then-obsession with the atom bomb”. The compilation of these government clips

serving as a movie shows their prevalence in the peak of the Cold War in the 60’s especially and

proves the effect of the numerous Civil Defence broadcasts on the national American culture,

culminating in a movie.

Quinn, Robert J. Civil Defence. Civil Defence, Civil Defence Corps, 1958.

This is a secondary source telling the history of the civil defence program in chicago and

its actions during critical times. The report states that the organization of 100 volunteers and was

ready to respond to the cuban missile crisis as soon as the news came. It shows that the worry for
a nuclear attack that was influenced by the civil defence was ever present and encouraged people

to volunteer and participate in the defence of the nation from a nuclear attack.

Schlosser, Eric. “Almost Everything in ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Was True.” The New Yorker, The New

Yorker, 18 June 2017,

www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/almost-everything-in-dr-strangelove-was-true.

This article covers the 1964 movie “Dr. Strangelove”, a Cold War dark humor comedy

predicated on a US officer launching an attack on the USSR and causing a nuclear war. The

movie was a success, banking on the public’s awareness of the nuclear threat and making fun of

it. Though the movie was “clearly a farce”, the article presents the premise of the movie as

viable, since the “Eisenhower agreed to let American officers use their nuclear weapons, in an

emergency, if there were no time or no means to contact the President”. Though the public did

not know the full truth on the scary matter with which the movie was concerned, they certainly

enjoyed a laugh from the comedy, described by another article (referred to in the article itself) as

“an evil thing about an evil thing”. This shows that the potential for nuclear war was imprinted

on a decent chunk of the American audience, which was able to enjoy a movie predicated on the

common knowledge of a nuclear war, which was spread so enthusiastically by the Civil Defence

program.

Schulman, Ari N. "Doomsday Machines." Slate, 7 Oct. 2014. Slate, slate.com/

technology/2014/10/fail-safe-50th-anniversary-sidney-lumets-nuclear-war-movie-is-bette

r-than-dr-strangelove.html. Accessed 14 Nov. 2018.

 This is a secondary source discussing the realistic representation of American attitude

towards nuclear war. In it, it describes the plot of the movie, Fail-Safe, especially the fear and

concern of the commanders in charge that were responsible for an accidental nuclear attack on

the USSR. The article compliments the genuine and sobering attitude in preventing a nuclear

war. It highlights the fear of not only intentional nuclear attacks, but also mistakes that could

result in the deaths of millions of people. This source is useful to our topic, as it illustrates the

shared fear and anxiety regarding an actual nuclear war. Even if it should be prevented, the

possibility of a mistake in human and machine is always present and threatens the lives of

innocent civilians. Therefore, the source illustrates the concern of American people through its

representation in popular culture.

Smith, Richard Harland. “Panic In Year Zero.” Turner Classic Movies,

www.tcm.com/this-month/article/241711%7C0/Panic-In-Year-Zero.html.

This is a secondary source, a movie review of “Panic in Year Zero”, a movie made in

1962 about a nuclear armageddon where a man must survive in the ruins of the US after a

thermonuclear war. This movie was created by an indie filmmaker who presented a scenario ever

so familiar to the american public: that of nuclear destruction and a complete national collapse.

This shows that the idea presented by the civil defence have made their way into freelance

movies with a terrifying appearance, showing the concern of the movie makers when making the

film.

United States, Congress, Clapman, Willem. “Civil Defence for the 1980's--Current Issues.” Civil
 Defence for the 1980's--Current Issues, 1979, pp. 55–57.

Accessed 23 Oct. 2018.

This is a secondary source, a report by the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency addressed

to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It is a report on the effectiveness of the civil

defence program, its effects on the public opinion of the US population, and the potential for its

expansion. It reports that the “civil defence capabilities could have a significant effect upon its

own population during a crisis, with respect to their perception, anxieties, and quite possibly

behavior”. This document supports our thesis, stating with evidence from numerous studies that

there is a significant effect on the population due to the presence of a civil defence program.

United States, Congress, Yoshbe, Harry. “Our Missing Shield: The US Civil Defence Program in

Historical Perspective” 1981, pp. 476–496.

Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.

This is a secondary source, a government report for the Federal Emergency Management

Agency on the many aspects of the US Civil Defence program throughout History, as well as its

potential for continuation. It talks specifically about the impact of the program on the

population’s survival rate when targeted and the necessity to put the thought of an imminent

threat into the minds of the people and that a system of “communications, warning, evacuation,

and public education” would be utilized to instill readiness into the population to ensure its

future survival. The constant reminder of a potential nuclear threat hung high over the minds of

the people, supporting the claim of a cause of increased tension.