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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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Feature Excerpt
Laying awake at night
Abstract
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