Civil Defense Literature Collection

The Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) was established by President Franklin Roosevelt in May of 1941 to create safety measures and procedures to protect citizens in the case of air raids, blackouts, and other war-related attacks. The office was also in charge of the morale of the citizens and for the creation of a citizen volunteer recruitment or what would eventually be titled the Citizen’s Defense Corp. Citizens were encouraged to join through Citizen’s Defense volunteer offices who would assign roles and train volunteers for positions such as driver, messenger, auxiliary police, as well as other volunteer positions. After a volunteer had completed training, they were able to wear an armband or uniform with the insignia of the position they were trained for. The OCD continued throughout the war to establish safety measures and assist in volunteer recruitment. The program officially concluded in June of 1945. After the OCD program was dissolved;the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) was created by President Harry S. Truman in 1950 due to the detonation of the Soviet Union's first atomic weapon. In 1958 the FCDA was superseded by the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization when President Dwight D. Eisenhower merged the FCDA with the Office of Defense Mobilization.The civil defense functions of the office were transferred to the Department of Defense's Office of Civil Defense in 1961.