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Item “Only as Strong as We All Make It:” The Limitations of Fargo’s Civil Defense during the Early Cold War (1950-1964)(North Dakota State University, 2022) Rudebusch, AaronIn this thesis, I argue that civil defense failed to take hold in the United States because it required local communities to take responsibility for protective measures. Fargo, North Dakota provides a case study for this analysis. The first section examines how Fargo adopted many practices from federal, state, and municipal civil defense organizations in the early 1950s, but struggled to implement them due to volunteer shortages. The second section explains how the hydrogen bomb forced officials to revise civil defense policies. It also details efforts by congressional and private bodies to increase federal responsibility for civil defense. The third section covers Fargo’s lack of response to the Berlin and Cuban Missile Crises, focusing on the unwillingness of Fargoans and their government to invest in civil defense. I conclude that today’s policymakers should recognize the limitations of making local communities responsible for policy implementation.Item The Missile People: A Cold War Public Memory(North Dakota State University, 2024) Engeland, ShaneDisrupting the horizon with a startling physical presence on the flat North Dakota prairie, the remains of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex are the physical remnants of a decisive stage of the Cold War. The complex was part radar array, part computing marvel, and part nuclear launch control platform that represented a significant federal investment in rural North Dakota. Together, these pieces created the pinnacle of the Pentagon’s efforts to create an effective antiballistic missile system. The local memories attached to the complex contrast with general perceptions of the Cold War. Memories of friendship and community are common when the topic of the Missile Site Radar is broached, adding detail to the general understanding of a Cold War experience that includes a boom followed shortly by a near-complete bust. Recent efforts by the Cavalier County Job Development Authority have reinvigorated interest in the structure, the town, and the story of the Missile People. Interviews with residents and excerpts from The Guardian newsletter describe an intersection of two communities drawn together by terrible circumstances yet were able to create memories that belie the nuclear finality the site ultimately represented.