In the early 1960s Washington was a city on edge and the threat of a nuclear attack was not far from the minds of the powerful.

It was a threat considered so real that boxes of medical supplies were distributed across America — intended to aid survivors of an attack for the days and weeks after the blast. 

But the blast never came and for decades the supplies that officials hoped would save their compatriots gathered dust, forgotten in an attic in the nation's capital.

Until they caught the eye of Senate photo historian Heather Moore.