‘Cold War Oklahoma’ presentation at Museum of the Western Prairie

ALTUS — The Museum of the Western Prairie in Altus will host an Oklahoma author presentation on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m.

Landry Brewer, Bernhardt Scholar and instructor of history for Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Sayre, will discuss his recent book “Cold War Oklahoma.”

Oklahoma might seem like an unexpected place for Cold War tensions to boil over, but the state played a key role in a conflict that threatened global annihilation. In fact, Altus Air Force Base served as a hub for 12 intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites. “Cold War Oklahoma,” recently published by Landry Brewer, explores the deep ties that emerged between the citizens of the Sooner State and what President Dwight Eisenhower famously called the military-industrial complex.

The author delves carefully into the Atlas F missile program and describes the missile sites constructed within 45 minutes of Altus Air Force Base in the 1960s. From his descriptions of the military installations, to the careers of Carl Albert and Thomas Stafford, to the threat of a nuclear holocaust, Landry’s presentation will engage listeners with “a masterful overview of ordinary Oklahomans in no ordinary time.”

This presentation is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served. This event is hosted by the Western Trail Historical Society.

The Museum of the Western Prairie is located at 1100 Memorial Drive in Altus. For more information, call (580) 482-1044.