“Protecting the Home Front: Women in Civil Defense in the Early Cold War”

“Protecting the Home Front: Women in Civil Defense in the Early Cold War”

By Michael Scheibach, Ph.D.

Islamorada – The Florida Keys History & Discovery Center Presents… “Protecting the Home Front: Women in Civil Defense in the Early Cold War,” a lecture on Wednesday, March 23, with Dr. Michael Scheibach.

From senior positions at the state and federal levels to local volunteers, women played a significant role in the nation’s civil defense program during the 1950s and early 1960s. Michael Scheibach, Ph.D., an independent scholar, educator, and author, chronicles the wide range of contributions by women in his presentation, “Protecting the Home Front: Women in Civil Defense in the Early Cold War.” Women of all ages and backgrounds participated in such areas as the ground observer corps, auxiliary police, nursing, communications, rescue, health, and mass feeding – all considered essential in the nation’s effort to be prepared in case of an atomic attack by the Soviet Union, which many at the time felt was a probability and not just a possibility. The presentation looks at women across the country as well as those in the state of Florida, including the Keys.

Michael Scheibach is the author of four books, including Atomic Narratives and American Youth: Coming of Age with the Atom, 1945-1955; Atomics in the Classroom: Teaching the Bomb in the Early Postwar Era; Protecting the Home Front: Women in Civil Defense in the Early Cold War; and Atomic Alert! The Atomic Bomb and ‘The Show That May Save Your Life.’ He is also the editor of In Case Atom Bombs Fall: An Anthology of Governmental Explanations, Instructions and Warnings from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Scheibach received his doctorate in American studies from the University of Kansas. He has more than 20 years’ experience as an adjunct professor and currently teaches at the University of Miami’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He has made numerous presentations on the early cold war and atomic age at conferences and other venues. He lives in Miami, Florida.

Doors open at 5:00 p.m., lecture begins at 6 p.m. The lecture is at the Keys History & Discovery Center and Islander Resort Conference Center, MM 82. Lectures are free for members and $10 for non-members. Secure your seat with an advance registration at 305- 922-2237 or https://www.tickettailor.com/events/floridakeyshistorydiscoverycenter/665511.

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