CHICAGO METRO HISTORY FAIR

2019 SUMMARY STATEMENT FORM

Attach an annotated bibliography (AB) that is divided between primary and secondary sources.
Submit two copies of the SS and the AB at the competition. Please type.

Student names: Tyler Tran and Artemiy Arzumanov

Title: The Civil Defense

Check if applicable (and respond to question 3)

□✓ This project uses the 2019 National History Day theme, “Triumph and Tragedy in [Chicago/Illinois] History.”

Project Category:
□✓ Website

Student composed Word-Count:

773

1. THESIS STATEMENT
Present the project’s argument or interpretation in two sentences. If you are using the NHD theme, you might want to
make it evident in your thesis statement.

By increasing general awareness of a potential nuclear conflict with the USSR and preparing the populace for it during the
Cold War, the US Civil Defense program influenced the contemporary Illinois popular culture and media, raising the
concern of people in regards to a potential nuclear war.

2. SUMMARY OF PROJECT
Briefly explain your project and its conclusion. Include: How and why did change happen and what was the impact?
Why is it historically significant? What historical meaning or importance can we learn from your findings?

The Civil Defense program was created as a way to combat the threat of a nuclear war to the general populace of
the United States through raising awareness and holding preparatory drills for the public, and had a definite impact on the
popular culture of Illinois. It is clear from a variety of official sources that the Civil Defense program was tasked with
imprinting upon the populace the readiness to take cover in case of a nuclear attack. Indeed, the bomb drills, administered
by the CD, were held multiple times in Chicago, and propaganda posters and government-created movies regarding
seeking shelter in case of a war were everywhere.
These programs administered by the Civil Defense caused the topic of nuclear annihilation to be spread through
American national and Illinois local media through movies, songs, and entities such as the “nuclear clock”, which
contributed to the nuclear threat being a significant and ever-present topic within the minds of the populace, increasing
their concerns about the start of a nuclear war resulting in armageddon.

3. Required for projects using the National History Day theme only.
Explain how this project integrates the NHD theme “Triumph and Tragedy in [Chicago/Illinois] History” into its argument.
The cloud of a potential nuclear conflict hung over the United States since the Soviet creation of their own nuclear bomb
to counter those of the Americans. Chicago as a major city was a potential target for a nuclear attack, and to prevent the
greater tragedy of a nuclear strike killing millions the Civil Defense acted in a way to warn and prepare the people,
resulting in those millions living in fear of a reminded-of nuclear threat, causing a tragedy in of itself that had notable
impacts on culture in Chicago. Millions of people lived in fear of instant destruction due to the actions of the Civil Defense,
and it is a tragedy that spanned decades.

4. PROCESS

A. What historical question did you start off with—and how did it change once you began doing your research?
“How did the Civil Defense increase tension in Chicago” changed into “How did the Civil Defense
influence the contemporary Illinois popular culture and media and raise concern for a nuclear conflict”.

B. What kinds of sources did you use as evidence to develop your argument (for example, letters, photographs,
government documents, interviews, etc.)?

We used a variety of sources as evidence in our project, including government documents, newspapers,
photographs, videos, research studies, magazine articles, government reports, and an interview.

C. Select one piece of evidence that you used and explain how it influenced your argument.

The intro movie for the video game Fallout Tactics influenced our argument because it clearly
demonstrated the impacts that the Civil Defense program had on popular culture and media in the United States. The
Fallout series continues to produce games that are centered around the hypothetical nuclear fallout that would occur
with nuclear conflict, and even has the Civil Defense program featured in the game, and this specific detail proved that
views of nuclear war within popular culture was visibly changed as a result of the actions taken by the program.

D. List libraries (other than school), museums, and other institutions that you visited to do your research.

No libraries were used to do research. All research was done online.