"I am too young to die": Children and the Cold War

Abstract

For many Americans, one of the most enduring images of the Cold War is a little black-and-white cartoon turtle. “Burt,” as he was named by the Federal Civil Defense Administration, rose to iconic status after he starred in a 1951 film telling children that in case of nuclear fallout, the best line of defense was to “duck and cover” (1). Footage of children diving under desks to Burt's happy song epitomizes our early twenty-first century impression of the naiveté of Americans who seemed to believe that such a flimsy maneuver might actually safeguard them from a nuclear attack, let alone the sickening effects of radiation. Our collective historical memory of Burt emphasizes the innocence and vulnerability of young children who are victims of anticommunist panic and the threat of nuclear war. If we let ourselves think broadly about the history of children during the Cold War, however, more...