Community Shelter Planning (CD 5 244) is a 1966 film from the Office of the Secretary of the Army and the Office of Civil Defense that shows viewers how a county works with the Office of Civil Defense to develop community shelter plans. The film takes place in Doylestown, PA, the county seat for Bucks County, and is filmed from the perspective (and point-of-view) of the County Commissioner. The film also features a young Gene Hackman playing a Regional Civil Defense expert. The film explains how a community shelter plan is developed, beginning with surveys of communities, the decisions that counties must make, how the project is funded by the Office of Civil Defense, the role of the Community Coordinator (who is sent to community planning school), how to educate the public about the plan, and a review of building techniques that help minimize radiation exposure. The film opens with a shot of Doylestown — a main square lined with buildings (01:41). People play and picnic on the grass in the square. The film then shows the exterior of Bucks County Courthouse (02:03). The Civil Defense Director greets the Regional Civil Defense expert (Hackman) inside the courthouse. The men discuss creating a community shelter plan with the Commissioner. People walk in the courthouse’s halls, passing a sign for the building’s fall-out shelter (05:38). The Regional Civil Defense expert explains the flow chart of how to implement a community shelter plan (07:08). In an office, the county’s Community Coordinator oversees the planning process for community shelters (10:07). A citizens committee meets in a board room to discuss the details of the plan (11:07). A woman fetches her mail as children run by her house (12:40). The Civil Defense Director demonstrates a ventilation system for shelters that can be powered by riding a stationary bicycle if there is a loss of power (13:49). The film discusses the need to place multiple shelters in a community, and shows a shopping center that includes the Food Fair grocery store and a Woolworth’s (14:52). The County Commissioner prepares for a public hearing for the proposed community shelter plans.

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com