In 2010 some homeowners in Neenah opened a backyard fallout shelter that was built by the previous property owners in 1960. Inside were ammo boxes filled with supplies (from food and games to medicine and radiation meters) to last a family of four for about 2 weeks. Some artifacts from the shelter were donated to the Neenah Historical Society. A group of people, myself included, have spent the past 5 months researching and writing an exhibition that highlights the history of what lead to the construction of this shelter. The exhibit features different aspects of the Cold War History, including civil defense, popular culture, and politics. My contribution to the exhibition was the panels written on U.S., Wisconsin, and Winnebago County civil defense. In addition, items recovered from the shelter are on display for people to see. We even managed to build a replica of a family fallout shelter, and used items found in the real shelter to stock it.
I had a second opportunity to venture back into the fallout shelter, but this time I brought my camera. I made the 11’ climb down the ladder and back into the 8’ x 10’ concrete room. Here are the pictures of what I saw.
Austin M. Frederick 