Evacuation Would Be Impossible
Artist
Designer Unknown
Printer
The Print Shop
Date1978
Dimensions22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.8007
DescriptionFounded in early 1977, Mobilization for Survival (MFS) had four official goals: the disarmament of all nuclear weapons, a ban on nuclear power plants, an end to the arms race, and a redirection of these funds to better serve human needs. By December 1977, it had 330 affiliate groups from across the United States, many of which represented different audiences but shared a common concern over the threat of nuclear war. By the late 1970s, the general public had a much more realistic concept of what would happen in the event of nuclear war—that, as this poster notes, “evacuation would be impossible” and most people would die, either in the initial blast or, agonizingly, over time due to radiation exposure. This poster promotes a march and rally that MFS organized to take place at the same time as the United Nations Special Session for Disarmament. It drew more than twenty thousand people, making it the largest disarmament demonstration in U.S. history. On View
Not on view
