Artifact of the Week — Week of October 24, 2013

Judge Snapp and Hail Bryant beside the official Civil Defense car

The Bryant Collection at Old Independence Regional Museum includes this photo of Judge Snapp and Hail Bryant pictured beside the official Civil Defense car.  The collection also includes images of his emergency identification card as the county director of Civil Defense.

emergency identification card – Hail Bryant

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the State Civil Defense Director Owen Payne Jr. called Hail Bryant and told him the country was within hours of being at war with the USSR.  Hail had made a shelter survey of about 500 locations in Arkansas that included caves and underground mines.  The state CD director asked Hail to choose a location where state government could be set up and supplied were loaded.  Hail chose the Sand Mines in Guion, Arkansas.  About 30 minutes after the phone call, the crisis was averted and no government supplies were shipped to Guion.

As Civil Defense Director for Independence County, Hail was required to carry a meter to measure radiation caused by atomic bomb blasts.  He also measured the fallout from atomic blast tests at White Sands, New Mexico and Nevada.  The prevailing winds would bring fallout to the area, leaving rocks, leaves, and surface material running the meter off the scale.

Civil Defense Emergency Identification