Cuban Missile Crisis and Tennessee

After the end of World War II Americans had a lot to celebrate. Nevertheless, the country was on edge with the threat of a nuclear attack. Schools prepped students while the government prepared cities and government officials. People feared atomic weapons. Therefore, the Civil Defense department in Tennessee constructed plans, test exercises, and fallout shelters in case of a nuclear attack.

Weblink address (URL): 
Cuban Missile Crisis and Tennessee
Home Page- source

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 

The goal of this lesson is to evaluate Tennessean concerns about the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons and the possibility of a nuclear attack. Students will analyze correspondence regarding the preparing of Tennessee’s Civil Defense and read informational text to be able to speak about the subject knowledgeably. 

Essential and guiding questions: 
  • How did Tennessee prepare for a nuclear attack?
  • What was the goal of the Civil Defense Department?
  • What was the purpose of a fallout shelter?

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Applying

Helpful Hints

Materials Needed:

  • Correspondence between Mr. Sutermeister and Governor Frank Clement
  • Copy of letter from Gov. Clement to Oscar Sutermeister
  • “I have…Who Has…” cards, cut into individual cards
  • Personal Preparedness in the nuclear age
  • Tennessee Civil Defense “Test Exercise Memo” for June 14-15, 1954.
  • The letter from Governor F. Clement dated for November 12, 1954.
  • Transcribed address by Governor Clement at the Memphis Civil Defense Banquet on April 20, 1954
  • “Bert the Turtle: Duck and Cover” (1951) Bingo sheet
  • Popsicle stick and pipe cleaner or Construction Paper
  • Fallout Shelter Booklet
  • Family Shelter Designs Booklet
  • The Spoils of our October “Victory”! Political cartoon