One Million Bones and Genocide Awareness Month
September 2012
Penn State Berks will be hosting a variety of awareness events, including films and discussions, guest speakers, and other projects to raise awareness.
During the month of September, 2012, Penn State Berks and the Freyberger Gallery will be hosting events for the campus and the community about worldwide genocide.
We will be partnering with the project One Million Bones (http://www.onemillionbones.org/) with the Berks Chapter, One Million Bones Berks, including a Students Rebuild Team component.
OMB is an international movement to bring awareness to worldwide genocide through an art activist project initiated by Naomi Natale, a TED scholar http://www.ted.com/profiles/bio/id/. Students, art organizations, individuals and others bones from materials like clay, wood, paper that will be collected and displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in 2013, serving as a “visual petition” to “…remember victims, bring awareness to the issues, and call upon our government to take action.”
Workshops are also being held throughout the county, and non-students will be asked to donate $5.00 per bone for 3 organizations (CARE, Enough and Women for Women International) that provide advocacy and direct services to people in need (affected by genocide). OMB recognizes several places where donations will be used: Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Burma, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Afghanistan.
Ways to get involved here at Berks:
LEARN: Come to the hear the speakers, see films, discuss
MAKE A BONE! Come to workshops this fall and make bones!
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The Life Atomic: Growing Up in the Shadow of the A - Bomb
The Life Atomic is intended as a vehicle for intergenerational discussion about the threats faced by Americans in the early atomic age and the threats that face our nation today.
The exhibit includes a light-hearted aspect of the topic, the impact of the bomb on the popular culture of the 1950s and 1960s.
Oct. 11 through Nov. 15, 2012
Reception: Thursday Oct. 15, 2012 beginning at 6 p.m.
Severance Family Fallout Shelter
About 1960 Louis Severance built this fallout shelter adjacent to his home near Akron, Michigan. The shelter included a special ventilation and escape hatch, running water, sanitary facilities, a small kitchen, and sleeping and living space for a family of four. It had concrete walls and a 10-inch reinforced concrete ceiling with a thick cover of dirt.
Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency (397-MA-2S-160).
Do you remember “duck and cover” drills at school?
Did you shiver at the sight of giant mutant ants in the classic film THEM? Perhaps you rushed through a box of cereal so that you could send off the box top and get your very own Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring. Maybe you remember being both really scared during the Cuban Missile Crisis and really entertained by the crazy characters in Dr. Strangelove.
Perhaps you’re way too young to remember the 1950s, but you love “retro” fashions and home décor. Maybe you were still a youngster during the frightening events of September 11, 2001, and you wonder if young people in earlier times ever had to live with threats like the fear of terrorist attack.
Whether you are a Baby Boomer who remembers the early atomic age or a younger person who is curious about that time, a new traveling loan exhibit at will be sure to please. “The Life Atomic: Growing Up in the Shadow of the A-Bomb” will Oct. 15, 2012 and remain on view through Nov. 15, 2012
Today American citizens find themselves threatened with the possibility of harm at the hands of foreign terrorists. But fifty years ago, at the height of the Cold War, Americans lived under another kind of threat – global thermonuclear war. However, the atomic bomb inspired more than fear. The bomb also influenced virtually every aspect of American popular culture. Movies, books, home fashions, and even toys reflected a society that came to terms with life in the atomic age.
“The Life Atomic” illustrates the impact of the atomic bomb on everyday life through photographs and objects, in ways both serious and light-hearted. From civil defense warnings to B-movie posters and “atomic” toys, “The Life Atomic” shows the many ways the bomb influenced life in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Exhibit panels focus on the development of the bomb, early atomic testing in the American Southwest, civil defense preparations, fallout shelters, the influence of the bomb on movies and television, “atomic” toys and games, and the impact of the bomb on home décor. Visitors can explore the inside of a typical home fallout shelter as they listen to civil defense public service announcements. They also can watch a variety of civil defense films, including the 1951 classic Duck and Cover featuring the ever-prepared Bert the Turtle.
Included in this exhibition are materials from local collectors of Atomic Age memorabilia, ephemera and Civil Defense items.
“The Life Atomic” was developed and is traveled by the Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers, Arkansas. This project was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.
Civil Defense Display
Survival supplies for the well-stocked fallout shelter. At first civil defense officials developed plans to evacuate probable target cities. After the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, there was no time for evacuation. So civil defense efforts focused on encouraging citizens to take refuge in fallout shelters.
Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (311-D-09-02).
Photos: Courtesy of the Rogers Historical Museum