VISUAL ACTIVITY The Age of Nuclear Anxiety As schools routinely held drills to prepare for possible Soviet attacks, children directly experienced the anxiety and insecurity of the 1950s nuclear arms race. The federal government distributed this pamphlet about how to protect oneself from an atomic attack. Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images; Pamphlet: Lynn Museum and Historical Society. READING THE IMAGE: How effective do you think the strategy pictured here would be in a nuclear attack? Why would the government suggest that civilians could protect themselves? CONNECTIONS: In what other ways did the Cold War shape the everyday lives of Americans?