LOCAL HISTORY: 1963 Sanitation Kit was crucial was key in world of bomb shelters
When relations between the U. S. and the Soviet Union became strained, President Harry Truman was prompted to prioritize civil defense, and Congress passed the Federal Civil Defense act in 1950. This act created the Federal Civil Defense Administration to guide states in their civil defense efforts.
The FCDA led shelter building programs, established attack warning systems, stockpiled supplies, and led a public civic education campaign. With the continued development of atomic weapons and the threat of nuclear war, the FCDA promoted evacuating to shelters in the event of an attack. President Dwight Eisenhower was opposed to the cost of a new National Shelter Policy, and he replaced the FCDA with the Office of Civil Defense and Mobilization.
Why JFK supported civil defense?
President John F. Kennedy was an avid supporter of civil defense, and divided the Office of Civil Defense and Mobilization into two new entities: The Office of Emergency Planning (part of the President’s Executive Office) and Office of Civil Defense (under the Secretary of Defense). The new OCD made stocking existing fallout shelters with food and supplies a priority. The Defense Supply Agency gave shelter supplies to local governments to stock designated public shelters.
This 1963 Sanitation Kit, issued by the Office of Civil Defense, was stored in a fallout shelter in the basement of the Home Savings & Loan building in downtown Youngstown (now Premier Bank). It contains some of the original contents, including a liner and seat that transform the drum into a toilet.
MAHONING VALLEY artiFACTS is curated by Jessica Trickett, MVHS Collections Manager.
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