The materials in this collection date from 1951 to 1967, with the bulk of records dating from about 1958 to 1965. It is divided into four series: MILWAUKEE CIVIL DEFENSE, WISCONSIN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, TEACHING, and VISUAL MATERIALS. Robert Weigend's papers showcase the work he did planning for and implementing initiatives in the Milwaukee area that aimed to protect the population in the event of a nuclear attack. More broadly, the collection offers a look at how federal civil defense initiatives were addressed and carried out at both the local and state levels. The bulk of the materials relate to two of Robert Weigend's main civil defense projects: the Milwaukee Metropolitan Target Area Survival Plan and the Fallout Shelter Survey of Milwaukee. These records include Weigend's research and notes, maps, fallout shelter plans and survey forms, correspondence, agendas, and newspaper clippings, plus films, photographs, negatives, and transparencies. Records dated prior to 1958 are mainly copies of ordinances, resolutions, publications and reports likely used by Weigend for research; the same is true of records dated after 1964.
The collection documents Weigend's various activities, including teaching civil defense courses to both the general public and professional architects and engineers, designing fallout shelters, surveying fallout shelters and structures/spaces conducive to fallout shelters, and planning evacuation routes. Largely absent from the collection is personal information. Included in the case file is one newspaper article from 1999, in which Robert and Carol are both interviewed regarding his work and the fallout shelter he built in their basement. This article provides some personal information, as does a résumé found in the University Extension Courses subseries.
The MILWAUKEE CIVIL DEFENSE series is by far the largest, spanning from 1954 to 1963 and documenting all of Weigend's years as a civil engineer for the city. This series provides a wealth of information regarding preparations by the Milwaukee government to both prepare and protect people in case of nuclear attack. Included are records that show the work that went into the Milwaukee Metropolitan Target Area Survival Plan, such as reports, studies, articles, correspondence, and drafts (including a final one) of the plan with Weigend's edits and notes. While he contributed to the survival plan in several ways, his main contribution was the planning of evacuation routes; the material reflects this and includes many maps of the Milwaukee area, which are marked with information about population, supplies, manufacturers, medical facilities and routes. Also well documented in this series is the Fallout Shelter Survey of Milwaukee. Weigend was the director of the survey and worked on it from inception to completion, including weathering a period when the project was challenged by an alderman and put on hold while the staff proved their and their project's worth. Included are newspaper clippings about the project (many of which name or quote Weigend), fallout shelter research and plans (many sealed by Weigend), information about tax incentives for people who built shelters, correspondence with other government employees and officials, completed survey forms, agendas, financial information, and the official Fallout Shelter Survey of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1962. There are also some documents and notes related to developing a K9 Corps in Milwaukee.
The WISCONSIN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY series documents at least a portion of the time that Weigend worked there. How long he was an employee there is unknown, but these records date from 1965-1966, and consist entirely of Weigend's research and notes about developing a power grid system that could survive a nuclear attack. There are government publications, articles, notes from a course he took about industrial civil defense, and some correspondence.
The TEACHING series spans from 1953-1967, and includes materials related to Weigend's teaching of civil defense courses and workshops. Some materials are related to the home defense courses he taught to the public, and others are related to the University of Wisconsin extension courses he taught to architects and engineers. These records include course lecture notes, papers, tests, class lists, and instructor guides. Also included are the application materials that Weigend prepared when applying to teach for the university, as well as correspondence with the university.
VISUAL MATERIALS is made up of items that apply to the MILWAUKEE CIVIL DEFENSE series and the TEACHING series, and include photographs, negatives, transparencies, and films. All of the photographs and negatives pertain to civil defense; these, plus many of the transparencies, are of various fallout shelters. Some transparencies are of civil defense employees at work and of tests done in the desert. The transparencies in the TEACHING subseries are about nuclear fallout. Two of the three films (City of Milwaukee and Blue Civil Defense Film) were shot by Weigend and are in the MILWAUKEE CIVIL DEFENSE subseries. City of Milwaukee consists of panoramic shots of the city from atop a tall building, and Blue Civil Defense Film shows rescue drills and civil defense employees outside their office. The third film, Family Fallout Skit by Staff: The Family Next Door, tells the story of a family that builds a fallout shelter and the neighbors' reactions; it was likely for teaching purposes. It is unclear whether or not the actors were Milwaukee Civil Defense employees; the person who filmed it is also unknown.
