Cold War Biographies

Hello faithful readers! First, I have to apologize for a lapse in blog posts. Not only am I the Social Media Manager for the Cold War Museum, I am a graduate student in Museum Studies and Nonprofit Management and it was the end of the semester. I was swamped with three papers and a couple of tests.

Now that I have some time to breathe, I would like to begin with a new style of post called "Cold War Biographies." This isn't a biography in a traditional sense. Biographies tend to be about super famous people, like Nikita Khrushchev or Ronald Reagan. However, there are a lot of interesting stories waiting to be told, stories about Cold Warriors, scholars of the Cold War, Civil Defense enthusiasts and those with loved ones that were involved in the Cold War. While not as famous as four-star generals, fighter pilots or spies, the people I wish to showcase have stories to add to the history of the Cold War. These are people I think we should know a little more about, and I hope you enjoy this new weekly segment. This will be on top of the regular post, which will now be moved to Wednesdays. Also on Fridays there will be another special post which reviews films and shows related to the Cold War. That is three posts a week, so make sure you check back often!

I thought the best person to start with would be someone very close to home, someone who you hear from every week. Even though this person is 30 years old, she has a very strong interest in the Cold War and has become an expert in Civilian Civil Defense. The person for the week is yours truly:

"That's me in 1944... Well, historically reenacting a USO dance from 1944."

I decided to start with myself because I think you all should know who is writing these blogs and posting all the interesting stuff for you. The question I get asked the most is how someone so young (I always chuckle a little at this because I am 30 so I don't see myself as young anymore) can know anything about the Cold War. Well, I will tell you my story from the beginning to the present, and hopefully I can explain the madness a little.

Way back in 1992 I was attending a Catholic school. Catholic schools are notoriously slow to change their habits, so we actually participated in a duck and cover drill at the Principal's insistence. Even though I was in third grade, I was keenly aware that this drill was different. For the first time in my memory, we knelt under our desks with our hands over our head. For tornado drills, we would sit facing the wall in the hallway, and this was definitely not the case that day.

I imagine we looked something like this.

This odd drill stuck with me, and I would think about it every now and again. It wasn't until my sophomore year of high school that it clicked what had happened. I realized that I had participated in a duck and cover drill. I went to the library and found an old civil defense book in the collection. It had sadly sat on the shelf for about 20 years until I checked it out, but when I checked it out I was hooked! I began to learn everything I could about the Cold War. The civilian side of things fascinated me. When I had checked everything out of the library about a hundred times, I began to look for online resources. About this time a little Internet start-up called Amazon.com popped up in my search results one day. This store had every book that I could ever need on the Cold War. And I had a credit card. It was on!

The first book I acquired was Barry Popkess' Nuclear Survival Handbook. When I was little, I would see stuff about the arms race on TV and ask my mom about it. "What would happen if there was a nuclear war?" I can clearly remember my mom saying "we will stand in the middle of the street and wait for it to happen." Well, this was my quest to find out what "it" was. Let's just say when I found out what "it" entailed and how close to "it" we had come I had my first panic attack. (And I knew I would not be standing out in the street.) When I came back to my senses, I realized by asking my parents about their times during the Cold War, they could only remember bits and pieces about their entire lifetime spent under this dark cloud. I asked around, and I found the same thing was true from many people. The Cold War, which had been so prevalent in people's lives, was slowly slipping from memory.

As a student of history, I knew this special time in history had to be preserved for future generations. This is where the collecting came in. Shortly after I began college, there was another little start-up called eBay that came across my radar. I checked it out one day and typed in Civil Defense. Handel's "Hallelujah" started to play in my head! I could now acquire the very things I read about without trolling rummage sales and flea markets and endlessly coming up empty handed. I spent hours every week going over the materials, and then purchasing those that I felt had the most historical importance. I would purchase things and store them, look at them and love them. They became little treasures to me, and they taught me so much.

This collecting continued for about 10 years, and I purchased a lot each month. No matter where I moved, it was only a matter of weeks before my postman knew my by name. (Especially the nice older gentleman who lugged a boxed-up sanitation kit up the stairs for me. That thing was huge and that man was a saint!) During this time I had worked for several museums, but hadn't really considered it a career option at that point. I was still in school and after school I decided to try the corporate America route. (I failed miserably at the cubicle lifestyle.) I still actively volunteered for my local museum, and one day I was asked to volunteer for the museum's collector's day. I was amazed at all of the collections on display. There were banana stickers, dolls, china, and photographs. I remember volunteering for 6 hours that day wishing I had a collection to talk about and show...

"Oh right!"

So the next year I showed my collection at the show and people were really interested in it! I talked nonstop for the entire day. People would come by and say "I remember this!" and "I had one of these!" The best question I received was "What was the Cold War?" I answered this question for everyone who asked me. I knew my goal for the rest of my life would be to educate people about the Cold War, and specifically the most forgotten part, Civilian Civil Defense.

After failing miserably at corporate America, I was searching for fulfilment in my life. I asked my boyfriend (fiance as of this writing and husband in less than 90 days) what should I do with my life? He paused his video game and answered, "you have been working in museums for 10 years. Do that." He casually went back to playing his video game and I could have punched him. Not because he answered a question that had been plaguing me since I graduated from undergrad, but because it was so obvious. That day I applied for graduate school and the Museum Studies Program and Nonprofit Management Program. I got in, and everything changed.

(My fiance has been super supportive of me and my goal of teaching people about the Cold War, and getting into the museum industry. Not only did he tolerate my collections, he is going to let me build an authentic fallout shelter in our basement to store my shelter collection. What a gem! If it wasn't for him, none of this would have been possible. I have to take this opportunity to thank him for everything he has done!)

This is how I came to work for the Cold War Museum. I entered the program, and my professor told me about the Cold War Museum. It had never occurred to me to look for a Cold War Museum. I emailed them asking if I could be of any assistance and they got back to me almost immediately. I began to do some research on various topics for them, and I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Virginia (16 hours away by car. I don't fly!) and experience the Cold War Museum for myself. I was so impressed with the museum that I knew I would love to work for them for a very long time. Their mission meshed with my personal mission and we couldn't be a better fit together. I started out as a mere volunteer, but then the opportunity to become the Social Media Manager arose. I now had a title! But more importantly, I now have the opportunity to share my knowledge of the Cold War and Civilian Civil Defense with hundreds (and possibly thousands, who knows?) people.

I remember the flutter of panic when I sent out my first tweet, and the pride I felt when I launched this blog. I love what I do and I love teaching you every week. I hope, in my own little way, I can teach people about the importance of the Cold War and how it influences us even until this day. I must also humbly thank everyone out there who takes the time to read this blog. I hope this information I have shared with you in this first biography gives you a better insight into who I am, where I come from, and why a 30 year old knows so much about the Cold War!