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This exhibit was created with the Cuyahoga County Archives National Fallout Shelter Survey Collection. This collection features information dealing with the National Fallout Shelter Survey.  The 13 boxes contain correspondence between Civil Defense administrators, fallout shelter diagrams, blueprints, records, individual shelter booklets, and census tract information pertaining to the survey.

The National Fallout Shelter Survey was a program from 1948-1986.  During the Cold War, nuclear destruction was a threat that was a constant concern to the American people and administration alike.  Existing buildings and new construction were designated as fallout shelters.  These were reinforced structures with the capacity to provide some protection from the radioactive fallout that would occur after a nuclear exchange.  These facilities were surveyed, sketched, and blueprinted, and many different measurements were used to define each shelter's protection value, and the number of people each shelter could protect.

 This survey was done in two phases, Phase 1, which took place from 1948-1964, was the identification and preliminary survey of structures eligible for fallout shelter status.  Individual buildings were inspected and licensed as facilities for fallout shelters.  Phase 2, from 1963-68, consisted of a more detailed survey of the structure, and attention to supply issues, such as potable water on hand, ventilation, and sewer capacity. An updating survey of these shelters was performed in the 1970s, and for a final time in the 1980s. With the end of the Cold War, these facilities were no longer necessary.