The Portal to Texas History 2021 Research Fellowship Awardee

Geoffrey C. Lewis

Project Title

Know Your Community Plan:” Coastal Texans Confronting the Cold War

Project Description

“Know Your Community Plan” examines how Texans living along the Gulf Coast experienced and prepared for the Cold War. It emphasizes local efforts at civil defense, urging scholars to reassess the overbearing emphasis of fallout shelters in our popular memory of Cold War era defense. This project sheds light on the ways Texans utilized civilian defense for ventures that more often served community-based interests than the national Cold War agenda.

Biography

Geoffrey Lewis was born and raised in Alvin Texas. He is a doctoral candidate in the History Department at Texas Tech University. He earned degrees from Graceland University and the University of Houston-Clear Lake. At both institutions he studied history with an emphasis on United States foreign relations.