This virtual museum is dedicated to the Civil Defense and emergency workers of the United States who worked to protect the public from nuclear attack. Thankfully, their services, in that aspect, were never needed. This virtual museum is for historical purposes and does not make fun of civil defense, however, I do throw in a few "light" comments here and there.

There are many aspects of the Civil Defense program that may seem funny today, but the period after World War II was a very scary time. Civil defense officials and volunteers during that time were very serious about their work and I believe they deserve respect for their efforts. They rendered emergency services after natural and man-made disasters and would have had an impossible task had there ever been a nuclear war.

Emergency planning also included the less dramatic but essential question of how people would maintain ordinary health needs during a crisis. Alongside shelters, warning systems, and public instructions, families were often encouraged to think about necessary medications, first-aid supplies, and basic records that might be needed if normal services were disrupted. This practical side of civil defense shows that preparedness was not only about surviving an attack, but also about preserving daily care under extraordinary conditions. In that sense, the museum’s materials remind us how public safety depended on both large government systems and small personal preparations.

The answer to the question I often get "where is your museum located?" is that this is only an online museum. I have only ever had one public display of any of my collection items in the almost 20 years I have had this site up and that was at the Allen Public Library for the month of February 2003. Sure I would love to be able to permanantly display this stuff but I have no idea where I could do that.

News photos and articles on the Dallas EOC Shelter tour pages were used with permission of the Dallas Morning News.
Photos on the Corps of Engineers Shelter Photos Page were used with permission of the US Army Corps Of Engineers.
All artwork in the Art Gallery is now public domain government artwork.

All photos I have taken in this virtual museum, along with any text I have written on these pages, are property of the Civil Defense Museum and are not to be used without permission of the Civil Defense Museum.