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However, by the summer of 1993, Robert Adams, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and senior curator Tom Crouch, began to disagree over the portrayal of the Japanese in the exhibit.
#The enola gay exhibit at the smithsonian full
The director of the museum, Martin Harwit believed that the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan was so significant in the context of the fiftieth anniversary that the full debate of the bombings should be explored. The Enola Gay fuselage in a storage warehouse at the Smithsonian Institution (Photo credit: Wikipedia). The Enola Gay had been in storage for several years because the Smithsonian had no room for the airplane and was in dire need of restoration. Finally, unlike previous years, “the late 1980s and 1990s did not see the emergence of such all-consuming issues such as the Vietnam War, urban riots, or Watergate, which had earlier diverted attention from nuclear issues.” Coinciding with this anniversary, the Smithsonian Institution planned an exhibit that would showcase the fuselage of the Enola Gay, along with several other World War II-era aircraft. Secondly, enough time had passed for these veterans to come to terms with their actions during the war.
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For some, the fiftieth anniversary would be the last time that they would be able to record their stories. First, many veterans who had served in the war were still alive, but realized that they were aging quickly. However, as the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II drew near in 1995, interest over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki renewed. Awareness of the dropping of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki diminished greatly. The Soviet Union had fallen and the threat of nuclear destruction seemed to temporarily disappear. Be sure to support your position with specific examples.In the early 1990s, public attention concerning nuclear affairs was scant. Your response should also include a discussion regarding whether President Truman was justified to order the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What factors should public institutions take into consideration when they offer exhibits of the nation’s past? Why? Review the websites below and related textbook material, and then discuss your position in the ongoing debate about the Enola Gay Exhibit at the Smithsonian. Their effort to display the Enola Gay led to a firestorm of controversy and an on-going debate among public officials, military organizations, historians, and other special interests groups about the role of public institutions in representing the past. In 1995, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum sought to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II with an exhibit featuring the Enola Gay, the bomber responsible for dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. World War II officially came to a close in August 1945 after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.