Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The fear of nuclear war was at its peak when U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and 6,000 federal workers evacuated Washington, D.C., for three days in 1955.

Operation Alert was only an exercise, one of many used during the Cold War to assess the readiness of the nation's capitol. The civil defense exercise will be the topic of a University of Wisconsin-Platteville faculty forum discussion from 5 to 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 6 in the Harry and Laura Nohr Gallery in the Ullsvik Center on the UWP campus.

Associate professor of history David Krugler will be drawing from his forthcoming book "This is Only a Test: How Washington, D.C. Prepared for Nuclear War" in his presentation. Assistant professor of history Joong-Jae Lee will be the discussant after the speech and an audience question and answer session will follow. The event is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Education Faculty Forum Series "Ideas for a New Century."

During Operation Alert, top government officials were evacuated to a secret set of alternate headquarters, the Federal Relocation Arc, where they spent three days rehearsing the continuity of government after a nuclear war. Professor Krugler will explain why this exercise took place, how the Federal Relocation Arc was conceived and developed, how Washington's racially-divided population responded to doomsday fears and why efforts to create a local civil defense program in Washington, D.C., never succeeded. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the speech.

Contact: David Krugler, Associate Professor of History, 342-1809, kruglerd@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Laura Backhaus, Public Relations, 608-342-1194, backhaul@uwplatt.edu