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Richard Herndon - Cold War Era

In the early 1960s, during the height of the Cold War, Richard Herndon's father built a fallout shelter in the basement of their Springfield home on Woodland Avenue, directly east of Washington Park. The shelter was equipped with an air ventilation system and provisioned with food, water and other essential supplies. The Herndon family occasionally ran drills so they knew how to react to a nuclear attack or a natural disaster.

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Laying awake at night

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Interview Session (Audio)


Photos

Caption:
A schematic of the fallout shelter in the Herndon family basement during the years Richard grew up Springfield, Illinois, in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Where:
Springfield, Illinois

When:
1950's

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption:
A schematic of the Herndon family basement during the years Richard grew up Springfield, Illinois, in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Where:
Springfield, Illinois

When:
1950's

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption:
A photo of Mary Lee’s (Richard’s mother) family at her father’s home in Indianapolis in 1962.

Where:
Indianapolis

When:
1962

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption:
The Herndon children posed for the family’s Christmas photo, circa 1963, in their Woodland Avenue home. Going clockwise, Richard is at the top, Kathy, Saran (in the stroller) and Lee.

Where:
Springfield, Illinois

When:
Circa 1963

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption:
Mary Lee (Schell) Herndon during the Christmas season in 1963. Note the French doors that separated many of the rooms in their Springfield home.

Where:
Springfield, Illinois

When:
1963

Ownership:
Unknown

Caption:
Richard (on the left) with Kathy in the wagon as the play outside their Woodland Avenue home in the early fall, circa 1964.

Where:
Springfield, Illinois

When:
Circa 1964

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption:
From left to right are Richard, friend Barbara Ferrara, a long-time UIS employee, and Richard’s wife Carol, taken in Naples, Florida in 2016.

Where:
Naples, Florida

When:
2016

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo



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