In the early 1950s, fear of the Soviet Union’s atomic arsenal drove the Federal Civil Defense Administration into action. The “Alert America” Civil Defense convoy was launched. Three sets of thirty-foot trailers were outfitted with exhibits designed to get Americans thinking about national defense in an atomic age.
The convoys were dispatched to visit all 48 states. At the time, it was feared that a strong military alone was insufficient to protect America from a Soviet offensive. Individual Americans needed to be prepared to take charge of their local civil defense.
The “Alert America” campaign dramatized a devastating attack on a typical U.S. city. The objective was to compel everyday Americans to volunteer in their local civil defense organizations to protect their families and neighbors in the aftermath of an atomic bombing.
Learn more by reading the “Alert America” campaign book in the Jack Glenn papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.