War and Conflict | Page 61

Minnesota State Fair, 1917

Since its founding in 1859, the Minnesota State Fair had been an essential yearly tradition in the agricultural state. However, after the United States entered World War I in 1917, the fair took on an entirely new significance. Organizers reframed the event as a “Food Training Camp” that showed Minnesotans how to produce and conserve resources vital to the Allied war effort.

Fallout shelter water storage can

Fallout shelter water storage can, c.1950s.

Emergency preparedness kit

Emergency preparedness kit assembled by a family in Minnetonka, c.1960s.

St. Casimir’s School fallout shelter

Stocking fallout shelter at St. Casimir’s School, St. Paul, 1962.

Civil defense instructor training

Civil defense instructor training, 1962.

Black and white photograph of the Gerlach family at their home during a civil defense drill,1956.

Gerlach family civil defense drill

The Gerlach family at their home during a civil defense drill,1956. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Gerlach are shown with their children Margaret (age 15), Steve (age 13), Monica (age 11) and Barbara (age 8).

First aid kit display

Women with civil defense home first aid kit display, 1954.

Family civil defense drill

Family civil defense drill, 1953.

Civil Defense in Minnesota, 1950–1974

During the extended Cold War standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, many Minnesotans prepared for the terrifying possibility of nuclear war by participating in a variety of civil defense efforts. The civil defense strategies employed in Minnesota changed significantly as the perceived military threat evolved.

Alice Ames Winter

Alice Ames Winter, c.1923. Winter was chair of the Woman’s Committee of the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety and the Minnesota Woman’s Committee of the Council of National Defense.

Gale Family Library