“Preparedness Prevents Panic”: Civil Defense and the Cold War in Texas, 1947-1962

This dissertation examines Cold War era civil defense in Texas between 1947 and 1962. It argues that during the 1950s, Texans constructed a civil defense apparatus to serve a multitude of purposes not strictly confined to the Cold War agenda. Through a blend of state archival material and local publications, this project reveals that civil defense in Texas was multifaceted. It was about atomic warfare, disaster relief, municipal development, states’ rights, and local autonomy. While the atomic bomb threatened their physical existence, Texans also worried that postwar changes of urbanization, industrialization, and federalism jeopardized the cultural makeup of their state. As a result, Texas communities expanded their conception of the Cold War, deploying civil defense rhetoric and spending to address all these anxieties. Through this historical process, Texans created a pattern of opportunism and exploitation that allowed them to be both complicit and complacent in the formation of the national security state.