Questions for Anne Turkos, university archivist for University Libraries, may be sent to terpmag@umd.edu.

Q.Were any fallout shelters located on campus, and if so, where?-Al Barth

A.The Diamondback reported in December 1962 that 39 areas in 37 campus buildings had been prepared for fallout shelters. These areas could accommodate a total of 7,462 people. The university planned to create 20 more shelters, each stocked with a two-week supply of food and water and a radio kit. A shelter manager and two alternates would be assigned to take charge during emergencies.

Students participate in a fallout shelter course at Denton Dining Hall in 1966.

By 1971 there were 42 buildings with fallout shelters with a total capacity of 23,052. As far as can be determined, none of these shelters exists today. It is believed that most were converted to other uses during major renovations of university buildings beginning in the late 1970s. Fallout shelter signs were reported to exist in Reckord Armory and at the Institute for Physical Science and Technology Building, but no signs were found during a recent check of these buildings.

Q.My late great-grandmother, Henrietta Spiegel, was a student at the university in the 1980s, and I believe she was the oldest woman ever to graduate from the university. Can you share any information about her? -Ryan Spiegel '00 A.I remember when your great-grandmother (right) graduated cum laude in Spring 1989 at the age of 85. She earned a degree in English and a GPA of 3.9. She holds two records: She is the oldest person to complete an undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland and the oldest woman inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. An award for creative writing in the Department of English has been named for her.

Q.How does Rachel Carson fit into Maryland's history? She was an adjunct faculty member in zoology, and I am curious to know more. -Andrea Morris A.Even though she taught zoology, a course we normally associate with University of Maryland, College Park, a yearbook photo and faculty directories from the Baltimore campus confirm that Rachel Carson (right) only taught there. Carson wrote "Silent Spring," a call to action on the environment that resounds loudly even today.

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