

These supplies were stocked in public and private buildings, including colleges and universities throughout the United States, as part of its preparedness plan for nuclear attacks. These minimal supplies were meant to last for two weeks. The library received 4,176 tins of biscuits made by the United Biscuit Company of America, each weighing 6 pounds, at the cost of 22 cents each for a total price of $918.72.

A supply invoice for the “new library,” designed in 1961 and opened in 1964, now called Rooney Library, shows enough supplies for 1,235 people. Lists of supplies by building included biscuits, water storage drums, carbohydrate supplements (sugar water), sanitation kits (toilets and toilet paper) and medical kits. Four of the six buildings would hold “outsiders,” which likely referred to the public. The plans called for the general population of sisters and students to be divided into various buildings as specific sisters, faculty, a policeman and a priest each were assigned to oversee the operations by structure. Copies of blueprints in the archives show that Miller – Miller Associates Architects of Terre Haute drew and designated the shelter locations for each building. Mary’s Senior Living), and the Infirmary (Lourdes Hall), were all designated and secured by the local Civil Defense Program as structures to be utilized by the public as shelters for protection from fallout radiation in the event of enemy attack. The Conservatory, Guerin Hall and Rooney Library at the College, along with the Sisters of Providence’s Foley Hall, the Novitiate (St. Scan of the list of people designated for each building
