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

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The early Cold War is most often viewed as an era containing women within the home and traditional gender roles. Yet this is also the era in which women actively seized unprecedented opportunities to contribute to the nation’s civil defense. The Federal Civil Defense Administration, launched in January 1951, stated early on that the importance of women in civil defense can scarcely be overstated. In fact, women represented seventy percent or more of civil defense participants.
This book examines women’s wide range of roles in civil defense: from joining the FCDA’s warden, nursing, rescue, and other services; to participating in national, regional, state, and local organizations; to managing emergency mass feeding drills; to promoting home protection and preparedness. In addition, this book also includes excerpts of documents that contribute to a better understanding of the government’s view of women in civil defense.
What becomes clear from this study is that women not only demonstrated their leadership abilities and skill sets through their civil defense activities; they also demonstrated their dedication and commitment to the nation’s protection of the home front during a time when the threat of atomic war was very real.