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Friends of History: The Fallout Shelter of the '60s

Kenneth Rose, Department of History, will present "Constructing a Nation Underground: The Fallout Shelter Controversy of the '60s" in the next segment of the Friends of History Lecture Series titled "Historians View the Construction of Nationality." The lecture is on November 2 at 7 p.m. in PAC 134 and is based on Rose's new book, One Nation Underground: A History of the Fallout Shelter (New York University Press).

Rose grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, attended the University of Nebraska, and moved to Seattle to play rock 'n' roll and rhythm 'n' blues professionally for 13 years. He read history books as a hobby before resuming his education at the University of Washington, where he earned his M.A. He received his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1992, after which his dissertation became a book, American Women and the Repeal of Prohibition (New York University Press, 1996). "I'd always been interested in prohibition," Rose said, "and I became particularly curious about the groups of women who -- and this is against common wisdom -- actively sought to repeal prohibition."

His interest in bomb shelters was sparked by an article appearing in Time magazine in the early '60s, in which the term "gun-thy-neighbor" was coined. The controversy, Rose said, was over to what degree the owner of a fallout shelter had the right to protect it from an intruder.

Rose said that in 1961, President Kennedy "vowed he would defend Berlin even to the point of nuclear war." He asked for -- and received -- funding to establish a national shelter system. "You may remember the black and orange signs on buildings indicating they were part of the national system," Rose said.

Fallout shelters, Rose explained, had been built since the beginning of the Cold War, but the Berlin crisis forced them into ubiquitous focus. "There were articles in every publication -- Sunset, Successful Farming, Yale Review -- after Kennedy's speech." Supporters and opponents of a national system cut across party lines. Opponents, including Dwight Eisenhower, feared it would militarize the country, creating a "garrison state."

Another complication was related to the issue of class: one's chances of surviving a nuclear war were better living in the suburbs than in urban centers. "If you were urban poor," Rose said, "you had the worst chances of surviving fallout. A bare-bones shelter cost $2,500 at the time, and the average annual income at the time was $5,300."

Rose's talk will include slides of shelters, civil defense posters, and nuclear explosions. The lecture is co-sponsored by the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, the Department of History, and the Humanities Center. A follow-up discussion will be held on Monday, November 6 at 2 p.m. in the Humanities Center. See calendar for details.

Thomasin Saxe, College of Humanities and Fine Arts