After Oppenheimer: Charleston in the Atomic Age
- Kendall John
- Mar 14, 2024
- 5 min read
In the decades after the creation of the atomic bomb by the Manhattan Project under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967), the world would progress into the next chapter of the Atomic Age. The 1950s and 60s witnessed both the mass fear of nuclear weapons and the celebration of nuclear power, with more of its power plants popping up in the United States at this time, including in South Carolina. To protect its citizens, the U.S. encouraged individuals and local governments to establish nuclear fallout shelters stocked with emergency supplies. This article will shed light on how this era affected Charleston.
The atomic bomb was detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945, killing between 130,000-226,000 people in the bombings and tens of thousands more later due to radiation fallout causing health problems and birth defects [1]. Though this attack ended World War II, it would never bring peace. As the Axis Powers fell, the Soviet Union rose, and so did the tensions between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. in their fight between capitalism and communism. The subsequent wars, scramble for territories and allies, Space Race, and spy missions that lasted into the 1990s would make up what is known as the Cold War.
While the U.S. was the first to create the atomic bomb, the Soviet Union was not far behind, detonating its own in 1949. This solidified America’s paranoia of nuclear warfare, and in 1951, President Harry S. Truman established the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) from what was the WWII-era Office of Civilian Defense. The administration would continue to evolve and be renamed several times in the succeeding decades. The FCDA was created to teach civilians about nuclear threats and how to prepare for them and in 1952 they released an instructional short film called Duck and Cover. This film was played in schools accompanied by duck and cover drills much like how today’s students practice fire and school shooting drills.
Also in 1952, the Savannah River Site (SRS) opened along the South Carolina-Georgia border. This 310-square-mile site is a nuclear materials production plant, research lab, and waste cleanup facility and was the first nuclear site in the state to open. The company operating the facility, DuPont, produced plutonium for the Manhattan Project and opened the SRS at the request of the federal government. Unbeknownst to the residents of South Carolina, the site experienced several accidents during the 1960s into the 1980s that could have gone significantly worse [2]. More nuclear power plants would be built in the state's upstate, some of which have been abandoned after receiving taxpayer funding [3].
The battle between the two superpowers to design more weapons of mass destruction progressed. In 1952, the United States successfully created and tested the next iteration of nuclear weaponry, the hydrogen bomb. The following year, the Soviet Union did the same. In 1955, the U.S. Navy opened its Nuclear Power School in Goose Creek, South Carolina, making Charleston an important site for nuclear arms, and a target for enemies.
Anxiety surrounding war continued, and, also in 1955, the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) encouraged Americans to keep a stock of emergency food and supplies in case of attack. At this point, though the federal government provided instructions and warnings, they did not have the funds to do much more for civilian defense, and the responsibility fell on the individual to prepare family fallout shelters. The FCDA became the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, and in 1960, they released another instructional short film titled Walt Builds a Family Fallout Shelter. This push for self-reliance made Americans feel ill-prepared in case of an attack and was a financial burden that many could not take on.
A July 1960 letter from a Charleston resident was sent to Mayor Palmer Gaillard asking about how residents were to evacuate in case of nuclear attack [fig. A]. It is unknown if and what the mayor responded but this letter demonstrates the fear and uncertainty experienced by civilians surrounding emergency preparedness.
As if answering the resident, President Kennedy established the Community Fallout Shelter Program in September 1960. It was noticed that evacuating entire cities of people quickly enough would be difficult in the face of
nuclear catastrophe, so, in addition to urging citizens to build family fallout shelters, the program provided over $200 million for the government to survey, establish, and stock shelters nationally. This took effect here in Charleston beginning in 1962 when Mayor Gaillard received a letter from an intelligence division of the Army Reserve requesting information on buildings and businesses in the city to assess military needs and strategic planning in case of a nuclear event [fig. B].
After a local architectural firm completed surveying Charleston County, a table was created to show the location and capacity of shelters in the area [fig. C]. These were held on the ground floors of public buildings, businesses, schools, hospitals, and places of worship. The licensing of nuclear fallout shelters continued until the end of the decade [fig. D]
In 1965, the South Carolina Senate sent a letter calling for increased protection from radiation in the designated shelter buildings and for storing radiological equipment in the shelters. This demonstrates the progression of the Community Fallout Shelter Program and the preparation involved [fig. E].
As the 60s waned into the next decade, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the United States and the Soviet Union would gradually wind down the nuclear arms race. In 1974, the Community Fallout Shelter Program lapsed. However, tensions would remain high between the two superpowers throughout the Cold War.
In 1983, a movie titled Special Bulletin premiered on NBC. The film takes place in Charleston, South Carolina, where a fictional news channel reports on a terrorist situation occurring in Charleston Harbor. Part of the news crew on a ship is held hostage by the terrorists, who utilize them to broadcast their threat: hand over the military's nuclear weapons or the terrorists will detonate their own.
The terrorists are anti-nuclear activists led by former nuclear scientist Dr. McKeeson. The group of vigilantes plan to destroy the local cache of nuclear devices by dropping them in the ocean in a radical demand for the end of their use.
The news team captures the negotiations between the terrorists and the military, who are eventually successful in overtaking the terrorists on board. However, during the skirmish, they are unable to disarm McKeeson's nuclear weapon. which detonates and destroys Charleston. The movie ends with coverage of the aftermath of the explosion before the reporters move on to a new story.
Despite the creators' inclusion of "dramatization" and "fiction" overlaid in scenes and again displayed before returning from commercial breaks, many calls were made concerned about the city. Both the film and the response to it show the anxiety that still surrounded nuclear weapons nearly forty years after their initial creation.
The physical scars of the Cold War can be seen in the remains of fallout shelters that are still being found across the country, including here. In 2020, an abandoned Atomic-era fallout shelter was found underground in the backyard of a North Charleston home. The thick concrete bunker was like a time capsule that included light bulbs, glass jugs of water, a mattress, clothes, and a child's toy doll [5].
It is from these forgotten fallout shelters, the media, and the government documents left behind that one can bear witness to the post-war paranoia of the Atomic Age here in Charleston.
Works Cited:
[1] “Genetic Effects of Radiation in the Offspring of Atomic-Bomb Survivors.” Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF). Accessed August 3, 2023. https://www.rerf.or.jp/en/programs/roadmap_e/health_effects-en/geneefx-en/.[2] Schneider, Keith, and Special To the New York Times. “Severe Accidents at Nuclear Plant Were Kept Secret Up to 31 Years.” The New York Times, October 1, 1988, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/01/us/severe-accidents-at-nuclear-plant-were-kept-secret-up-to-31-years.html.[3] Amy, Jeff. “Timeline: How Georgia and South Carolina Nuclear Reactors Ran so Far off Course.” AP News, May 25, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/nuclear-power-georgia-vogtle-reactors-8fbf41a3e04c656002a6ee8203988fad.
[4] Shouphie Habeeb to Civilian Civil Defense Director or Mayor, February 28, 1962, Box 10, Folder 13. City of Charleston, South Carolina, Records Management Division.
[5] Ciapha Dennis Jr, Rickey. “North Charleston Homeowner Discovers Potential Cold War-Era Bomb Shelter behind House.” Post and Courier, October 30, 2020. https://www.postandcourier.com/news/north-charleston-homeowner-discovers-potential-cold-war-era-bomb-shelter-behind-house/article_5063261e-1ac9-11eb-8133-8fee4f63ec9d.html.
[fig. A] Sprunt, Alexander. Letter to Palmer Gaillard, July 7, 1960. Clerk of Council Records, 1890-1975. Box 10, Folder 13. City of Charleston, South Carolina, Records Management Division.
[fig B.] Cummings & McCrady, Inc., “Shelter Facility Tabulation,” 1962. Clerk of Council Records, 1890-1975. Box 10, Folder 13. City of Charleston, South Carolina, Records Management Division.
[fig C.] Civil Defense Agency (1962). Fallout Shelter License or Privilege. Clerk of Council Records, 1890-1975. Box 10, Folder 13. City of Charleston, South Carolina, Records Management Division.
[fig. D] T. Allen Legare Jr. to Palmer Gaillard, August 4, 1965. Clerk of Council Records, 1890-1975. Box 10, Folder 13. City of Charleston, South Carolina, Records Management Division.
[fig. E] E.J. Dillon to J. Palmer Gaillard, August 5, 1968. Clerk of Council Records, 1890-1975. Box 10, Folder 13. City of Charleston, South Carolina, Records Management Division.
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