Ground Observer Corps records, 1952-1959

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Summary

Creator:
United States. Aircraft Warning Service. Ground Observer Corps
Abstract:
The Ground Observer Corps (GOC) was a civil defense organization run by the U.S. Air Force that enlisted volunteers to watch for and report aircraft movements. The Ground Observer Corps records include materials related to the operation of the Ground Observer Corps in the Durham area from 1952-1959. The collection includes assorted memoranda, correspondence, newsletters, forms, and recruiting materials, as well as manuals, logbooks, maps, posters, brochures, and promotional materials.
Extent:
5.25 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
RL.11983

Background

Scope and content:

The Ground Observer Corps records include materials related to the operation of the Ground Observer Corps in the Durham area from 1952-1959. The collection includes assorted memoranda, correspondence, newsletters, forms, and recruiting materials, as well as manuals, logbooks, maps, posters, brochures, and promotiomal materials.

The majority of the collection is a group of intermingled records of the operations of the GOC. GOC manuals include aircraft recognition guides, guides to the operation of filter centers, brochures on surviving atomic and biological attack, and information on the GOC itself and civilian participation in defense operations. Air Force materials include manuals and brochures on officer training, leadership, weapons, and general information. Logbooks include telephone bill records, itineraries and schedules for observation posts, and a logbook for an individual observation post. Also included are maps of the North Carolina coast and central and western North Carolina, a poster for identifing USSR airplanes, architectural plans for the Durham filter center, and other materials.

Biographical / historical:

The Ground Observer Corps (GOC) was a civil defense organization run by the U.S. Air Force that enlisted volunteers to watch for and report aircraft movements.

First active during World War 2 and then deactivated at the end of that war, the Ground Observer Corps was reactivated in 1950 after the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb and the Cold War escalated. Operated as part of the U.S. Air Force Civil Defense Program, the GOC enlisted volunteers to staff shifts at observation posts, trained these volunteers in identifying different types of aircraft, and operated filter centers to receive and verify telephoned reports of aircraft against known civilian and military plane schedules.

The GOC was organized according to the regional organization of the USAF Civil Defense Program, and Air Force officers and personnel helped local governments and municipalities establish and operate observation posts and filter centers. In North Carolina, there were filter centers in Durham, Charlotte, and other cities, and observation posts throughout the state, particularly in the coastal regions.

Reactivated in 1950 and active in the Durham area by 1952, the GOC was deactivated in 1959 as radar systems had improved and volunteer observers were no longer needed.

Acquisition information:
The Ground Observer Corps records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift before 2007.
Processing information:

Processed by Tracy M. Jackson, March 2022

Arrangement:

The collection appeared to have no original organization or order, with materials of different dates, function, and format intermingled. Some materials have been grouped by topic or format, including the Ground Oberver Corps manuals, Air Force manuals and forms, Logbooks, and Maps and Posters. The remainder of the records are as they were received.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Civil defense -- United States
Civil defense warning systems
Aircraft spotting
Airplanes -- Recognition
Names:
United States. Aircraft Warning Service. Ground Observer Corps
United States. Air Force

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Ground Observer Corps records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.