Much of the right’s criticism leaned upon its now-familiar formula of curtailing the freedom of scholarly expression in the name of uprooting the alleged dogma and elitism of “political correctness.”Ĭolumnist Charles Krauthammer, writing in the Washington Post on August 19, called the exhibit “an embarrassing amalgam of revisionist hand-wringing and guilt” and decried “the degree to which elite American museums, like the universities, have fallen to the forces of political correctness and historical revisionism.” It altered the script to say that the bomb alone ended the war and that an invasion would otherwise have been “inevitable.”īut even those concessions didn’t satisfy the ferocious conservative opposition. The Smithsonian revised upward the potential casualties of a thirty-day invasion from 30-50,000 to a potential of 1,000,000 dead, an astronomical figure that no serious analyst accepts. Eliminated were all references to Japan’s near-collapse even before the bomb was used and to the bomb being dropped without warning, all but one of the photos of the dead Japanese victims, many quotes by survivors, and any mention of the debate over whether dropping the bomb was necessary. The Smithsonian overhauled the script five times.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Harwit denied any intention of “criticizing or apologizing or displaying undue compassion for those on the ground that day” – implying that sorrow for the incineration of children and civilians is impermissible by the standards of militarist veterans’ groups. Harwit, the museum’s director.Īfter this storm of public condemnation and two day-length closed-door meetings with American Legion leaders, officials of the Smithsonian – the most popular museum in the world, with eight million visitors a year – back pedalled. A statement by more than twenty Congressmen called the exhibit “un-American.” Newt Gingrich said that the Smithsonian should not be a “plaything for left-wing ideologies.” Eighty Republican and Democratic Representatives called for the ouster of Martin O. The mode of attack was revived McCarthyism. they claimed it underestimated the casualties that would have been required if an invasion of mainland Japan had been required, dwelt overly long on the horrible effects of the bombs, minimized Pearl Harbor and Japanese war crimes, and impugned U.S.
Late last summer, the American Legion and right-wing congressmen started to pressure the Smithsonian to change the script. foot exhibit with a 600-page script.īut veterans’ organizations led by the American Legion have scuttled the project. decision to drop nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Smithsonian commissioned a ten-year, $1 million renovation of the Enola Gay – the B-29 that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima – which it planned to put on display as part of a 10,000 sq. IN MAY, THE Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., planned to unveil a major exhibition entitled “The Last Act: The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II.” The controversy had broad implications for the field of history and the arena of American public consciousness.Smithsonian Exhibit of the Enola Gay: The Incineration of History | Solidarity Smithsonian Exhibit of the Enola Gay: The Incineration of History - Christopher Phelps This paper examines the Smithsonian-Enola Gay controversy, an event which took place between 19. In Wisconsin, there was lively debate and discussion. The events sparked conversation about the atomic bombings and around the United States people discussed the events. The Smithsonian wished to portray an accurate picture, even at the cost of exposing America's not so innocent past. Scholars have noted, however, that the real issue at stake was a difference in the way America's role in history was viewed. Each of these groups supported their own agendas however, they all centered their arguments on what they say as a lack of balance in the Smithsonian exhibit. In an attempt to portray the end of World War II, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the nuclear arms race, the National Air and Space Museum ran into great opposition from various military groups and certain members of Congress. The controversy had broad implications for the field of history and the arena of American public consciousness.