DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Burlington Atomic Energy Week, 1947

Transcribe
Translate

Burlington Atomic Energy Week, 1947

""Blackout here Monday Night""

Blackout Here Monday Night

Monday night at 7 p.,. Burlington will be blacked-out, a plane will drone overhead and the roar of simulated bombs will be heard. 
No lives will be endangered. there won't be any property loss and folks won't have to fear an aftermath of radioactivity.
It won't be an atom bomb, but the effects the program of the week to follow will bring home the impact of the atomic age in which we live. 
Actually Atomic Energy Week in Burlington began Saturday. Sunday most Burlington churches will carry on the idea with many ministers mentioning atom bombs, atomic energy and the special week in the city from their pulpits. 
All week long folks are going to be conscious of atomic energy. There are atom symbols on the sidewalks, special window displays, and exhibit and books at the public library, a public opinion poll planned talks by 2 prominent authorities Monday night and the blackout. 
***
As the blackout starts, sirens will scream whistles will blow and the plane will come over. Firecracker bombs will be used to officially open the week. They will be set off from the roof of Memorial auditorium, Perkins park and behind Oak Street junior high school 
Special radio programs will be synchronized with the blackout.
Hurley Eland, chief of police, and W.G. Middelmann, fire chief, today joined in inviting auxiliary police and firemen who served during the war to report to fire and police stations during the blackout. 
At Memorial auditorium, an hour later, Adm. Lewis Strauss, a member of the US atomic energy commission, and Forrest W. Seymour of the Des Moines Register & Tribune, will speak. There is no charge but admission tickets are necessary. 
Strauss will talk on "The Atom in Civil Life", and Seymour's topic will be "The Citizen;s Responsibility in the Atomic Age."
Strauss who served actively in World wars 1 and 2 and who has been associated with naval scientific research for many years, also served as private secretary to Herbert Hoover from 1917 to 1919. 
***
Seymour joined the Register's staff about 22 years ago has served as copyreader, telegraph editor, assistant city editor and state editor of the newspaper. He received his bachelor's degree from Drake university in 1928. 
He became associate editor in 1943 and has been in the editorial page department for 14 years. He was awarded the Pulitzer prize for distinguished editorial writing in 1943. 
In that same year he was one of a group of 13 newspaper men to make a 6 weeks tour of Brazil and Bolivia by air to look over the rubber deployment. 
***
The project is sponsored by the League of Women Voters in cooperation with many other Burlington civic and service clubs, churches and schools. Literature has been distributed and it is planned to carry out a public opinion poll to determine the success of the educational week., Special movies will be shown at the Palace theater. Speakers from a bureau will appear at meetings next week. 
Mrs. Dorothy Schramm, who has arranged much of the program for the week, explained that the purpose is to acquaint is to "jolt the people of Burlington and Des Moines county into a realization that they are in a dangerous situation which requires straight thinking and some thoughtful action."

Saving...

Blackout Here Monday Night Monday night at 7 p.,. Burlington will be blacked-out, a plane will drone overhead and the roar of simulated bombs will be heard. No lives will be endangered. there won't be any property loss and folks won't have to fear an aftermath of radioactivity. It won't be an atom bomb, but the effects the program of the week to follow will bring home the impact of the atomic age in which we live. Actually Atomic Energy Week in Burlington began Saturday. Sunday most Burlington churches will carry on the idea with many ministers mentioning atom bombs, atomic energy and the special week in the city from their pulpits. All week long folks are going to be conscious of atomic energy. There are atom symbols on the sidewalks, special window displays, and exhibit and books at the public library, a public opinion poll planned talks by 2 prominent authorities Monday night and the blackout. *** As the blackout starts, sirens will scream whistles will blow and the plane will come over. Firecracker bombs will be used to officially open the week. They will be set off from the roof of Memorial auditorium, Perkins park and behind Oak Street junior high school Special radio programs will be synchronized with the blackout. Hurley Eland, chief of police, and W.G. Middelmann, fire chief, today joined in inviting auxiliary police and firemen who served during the war to report to fire and police stations during the blackout. At Memorial auditorium, an hour later, Adm. Lewis Strauss, a member of the US atomic energy commission, and Forrest W. Seymour of the Des Moines Register & Tribune, will speak. There is no charge but admission tickets are necessary. Strauss will talk on "The Atom in Civil Life", and Seymour's topic will be "The Citizen;s Responsibility in the Atomic Age." Strauss who served actively in World wars 1 and 2 and who has been associated with naval scientific research for many years, also served as private secretary to Herbert Hoover from 1917 to 1919. *** Seymour joined the Register's staff about 22 years ago has served as copyreader, telegraph editor, assistant city editor and state editor of the newspaper. He received his bachelor's degree from Drake university in 1928. He became associate editor in 1943 and has been in the editorial page department for 14 years. He was awarded the Pulitzer prize for distinguished editorial writing in 1943. In that same year he was one of a group of 13 newspaper men to make a 6 weeks tour of Brazil and Bolivia by air to look over the rubber deployment. *** The project is sponsored by the League of Women Voters in cooperation with many other Burlington civic and service clubs, churches and schools. Literature has been distributed and it is planned to carry out a public opinion poll to determine the success of the educational week., Special movies will be shown at the Palace theater. Speakers from a bureau will appear at meetings next week. Mrs. Dorothy Schramm, who has arranged much of the program for the week, explained that the purpose is to acquaint is to "jolt the people of Burlington and Des Moines county into a realization that they are in a dangerous situation which requires straight thinking and some thoughtful action."