![]() In the 1950s, the government printed millions of bright yellow pamphlets called "Be Safe from the H-Bomb" - an ironic title since there is, of course, no way to be "safe" from a hydrogen bomb. ![]() It wasn't a completely unreasonable fear then as now, Memphis was a transportation hub, and years ago we had important industries - Firestone and International Harvester, among them - that could be considered strategic targets.īut the bomb shelters - technically, "fallout" shelters since they shielded occupants from radiation, not explosives - came later. After Russia and other countries developed nuclear bombs, we became fretful that Memphis would become the next Nagasaki. ![]() You have to remember that America was a nervous place in the 1950s. This document is a fascinating relic from one of the strangest periods in our nation's history. The Lauderdale Library contains a copy of the Community Shelter Plan, published in 1968 by the Memphis and Shelby County Civil Defense Agency, which shows the precise location of every shelter in Memphis, and the closest one to Colonial was actually miles away. Dear Vance: They recently tore down the old Colonial Junior High School in East Memphis, built in the 1950s, and I was wondering if they found any relics from the civil defense bomb shelter in the basement.ĭear A.N.: I can tell you with certainty that they never found anything from a bomb shelter there, for the simple reason that Colonial - unlike many other schools and public buildings here - didn't have a bomb shelter. ![]()
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