Duck and Cover: How the Cold War Shaped Everyday Life in American Schools
In the early 1950s, American schoolchildren learned to dive under their desks at the sound of a siren, rehearsing for a nuclear attack that many feared could come at any moment. Drawing on federal civil defense guidelines, the iconic ‘Duck and Cover’ film, and state curricula, this article reconstructs the daily routines, anxieties, and expectations of Cold War classrooms.