Chicago Alert!: The City Plans For Atomic AttackMain MenuThe City Plans for Atomic AttackOrigins of Civil DefenseChicagoans prepared for enemy bombers during wartime.This is Only a TestThe city imagined and rehearsed for atomic destruction.Gimme ShelterThe symbol of American civil defense was the private family fallout shelter.Civil Defense in the CityPlans to survive in the city changed with global contexts.UIC PreparesThe university community shaped city plans.The Only Shelter is PeaceChicagoans questioned civil defense plans.From Civil Defense to Emergency ManagementChicagoans prepared for other disasters.About this ExhibitPamela Hackbart-Dean93dc91bf2da36176f33af7660faa866bf7a25e09Megan Keller Young2e72a529e58eee72bb9ae4f1e37365aa654232caDan Harpereff3db32ed95b3efe91d381826e2c10c145cd452
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1media/RJD thumb.jpgmedia/RJD_04_01_0018_0004_002.jpgmedia/RJD_04_01_0018_0004_002.jpg2020-11-13T15:17:28-06:00Origins of Civil Defense11Chicagoans prepared for enemy bombers during wartime.image_header2021-04-22T12:38:28-05:00The need for organized defense of civilians from enemy bombing arose during the World Wars of the first half of the twentieth century. In these conflicts, combatants attacked not only military targets, but also enemy populations in order to erode their ability and will to fight. The United States was insulated by distance from the widespread aerial bombing of civilians in Europe and the Pacific. But Americans organized civilian defense programs during World War II to prepare for the possibility that enemy bombers might attack U.S. cities.
After the U.S. destroyed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with two atomic bombs in 1945, the potential for the vast, instant destruction of civilian populations in future conflicts became a chilling reality. Maneuvering for control of the postwar world led to increasing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. By the time the Soviets successfully tested their own atomic bomb in 1949 a standoff between the two powers took shape that became known as the Cold War. If an open battle took place, the conflict could turn hot very quickly. Nuclear war could leave millions of Chicagoans dead in a single attack. How would the city prepare for such a possibility?
