1, Physical protection, which often meant they were fairly airtight, with thick concrete walls. and started surveying buildings to see if they would be suitable for protection against radioactive fallout," said Colby.Įxisting buildings were deemed suitable if they met three criteria: No. "The Army Corps of Engineers, along with specially trained architects and engineers that were trained by them, went around the U.S. to identify and mark space in existing structures - public and private - that could be used as fallout shelters in case of attack," Kennedy told the nation.Īnd so, the Office of Civil Defense - the precursor to FEMA - went to work. "Tomorrow I am requesting of the Congress new funds. In July 1961, he gave a speech outlining a new program.
Kennedy decided it was also time for a more concerted and comprehensive national safety plan. This was a time when nuclear war with Russia was a very real and rising threat a time of duck-and-cover drills in schools and educational films about how to build your own fallout shelter at home.īy the early 1960s, then-President John F. The program that led to these buildings being designated and marked as fallout shelters was launched during the Cold War. "I started asking my parents about it, and my interest grew from there, and since then, it's been over 20 years." "The middle school I attended in Boston was the William Barton Rogers Middle School and the school had those signs on it," said Sean Colby, the citizen-historian who runs the website Fallout Five Zero. And thankfully, for him and the rest of us, there's a local citizen-historian in the area who has spent years researching and documenting the history of these signs. His own interest in them was roused some 20 years ago, as a boy. Of course, LeMoult's building is just one of many in our area with one of these iconic black and yellow signs. "There’s this sign on the outside of our apartment building that says 'fallout shelter.' And I’ve been wondering for the longest time, what is the deal with this sign? What does it mean, how did that get designated, and is it any safer for us?" So did my colleague here at WGBH News, reporter Craig LeMoult, who was reminded of something that has long piqued his and his wife’s curiosity.
When I heard the recent news about the false emergency alert in Hawaii that warned a ballistic missile was incoming, my first reaction was, "That’s terrifying," followed quickly by, "What would I do if I got an alert message like that?" Perhaps you had a similar reaction.
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