Sponsor: The State Historical Society of Missouri
Jenny Barker-Devine, a professor of history at Illinois College, examines how the Missouri Civil Defense Agency prepared for nuclear war by planning to evacuate urban populations to caves and mines in rural areas. Barker-Devine's fascinating research and writing on this period of the Cold War offers insight into how Missourians responded to the unthinkable and unimaginable consequences of global disaster.
In 1961, the Missouri Civil Defense Agency prepared for nuclear war by planning to evacuate urban populations to caves and mines in rural areas. Robert C. Ellis, the Jefferson City engineer who led the federally financed project, estimated that mines and caves could protect almost three-quarters of Missourians from radioactive fallout. The plan lacked one crucial element: meeting the basic needs of urban refugees. State and federal policymakers assumed rural Americans would voluntarily operate reception centers, and provide food, sanitation facilities, and first aid. On the other hand, ordinary citizens reacted with skepticism and even hostility. Across the Midwest, urban evacuation plans forced conversations between rural and urban residents about the social, political, and economic costs of survival.