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The NASM was vilified under the unintentionally ironic catch-all criticism of “historical revisionism” and accused of being a “plaything for left-wing ideologies.” Professionals on NASM staff such as Canadian historian Michael Neufeld faced suspicion simply due to their country of origin and were condemned in the media as anti-American “politically correct pinheads.”Ī vital question which underlies these two books is whether or not our constituencies will permit museums to engage in any serious historical enterprise. These antagonists rejected the NASM’s attempt to combine commemoration with the perspectives of modern academic history on the decision to use this terrible weapon and the subsequent repercussions of doing so. Despite engaging in wide consultations, the NASM ran afoul of veterans, representatives of the “military-industrial complex”, powerful politicians, and the popular media. In its effort to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War in the Pacific precipitated when the famed B-29 Superfortress aircraft, the Enola Gay, dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan., Although serious doubts were expressed at the outset by NASM staff, this purpose was combined with academic historical analysis of the decision to use this terrible weapon and the subsequent repercussions of doing so. Acknowledged as the most vehemently disputed episode ever witnessed in the world of museums, it stands as a fearsome cautionary tale that should be heeded by every museum attempting to survive in these increasingly politicised times. The Enola Gay was the subject of a controversial exhibition planned for the Smithsonian Institution’s (SI) National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C., the world’s most visited museum. Linenthal and Tom Engelhardt (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1996), endnotes, 295 pages, ISBN: 0-8050-436-1 (hardcover), 0-8050-4378-X (paperback).Įnola Gay after Hiroshima mission, entering hardstand.
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HISTORY WARS: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past, edited by Edward T. Udvar-Hazy Center in December 2003.AN EXHIBIT DENIED: Lobbying the History of the Enola Gay, by Martin Harwit (New York: Copernicus, An Imprint of Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 1996), list of principals, chronology of significant events, endnotes, index, 477 pages, ISBN 7-3 (hardcover). While this exhibit is now closed, Museum specialists continued to restore the remaining components of the airplane, and after an additional nine years the fully assembled Enola Gay went on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. The exhibition text summarized the history and development of the Boeing B-29 fleet used in bombing raids against Japan.Īnother portion of the exhibit detailed the painstaking efforts of Smithsonian aircraft restoration specialists who had spent more than a decade restoring parts of the Enola Gay for this exhibition. The components on display included two engines, the vertical stabilizer, an aileron, propellers, and the forward fuselage that contains the bomb bay.Ī video presentation about the Enola Gay's mission included interviews with the crew before and after the mission including mission pilot Col. It contained several major components of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber used in the atomic mission that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan.
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This past exhibition, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, told the story of the role of the Enola Gay in securing Japanese surrender.