Controversy over the Enola Gay Exhibn - Nuclear Mm

Contents:

• EXHIBG THE ENOLA GAY
• THE SMHSONIAN’S DECISN TO EXHIB THE ‘ENOLA GAY’
• CONTROVERSY OVER THE ENOLA GAY EXHIBN
• HISTORY AND THE CULTURE WARS: THE CASE OF THE SMHSONIAN INSTUTN'S ENOLA GAY EXHIBN
• THE SMHSONIAN AND THE ENOLA GAY

EXHIBG THE ENOLA GAY

Enola Gay. While this exhib is now closed, Mm specialists ntued to rtore the remag ponents of the airplane, and after an addnal ne years the fully assembled Enola Gay went on permanent display at the Natnal Air and Space Mm’s Steven F. This past exhibn, cidg wh the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, told the story of the role of the Enola Gay securg Japane surrenr.

It ntaed several major ponents of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber ed the atomic missn that stroyed Hiroshima, Japan. A vio prentatn about the Enola Gay's missn clud terviews wh the crew before and after the missn cludg missn pilot Col.

Another portn of the exhib tailed the pastakg efforts of Smhsonian aircraft rtoratn specialists who had spent more than a rtorg parts of the Enola Gay for this exhibn. Boeg B-29 Superfortrs "Enola Gay".

THE SMHSONIAN’S DECISN TO EXHIB THE ‘ENOLA GAY’

Frequently Asked Qutns Regardg Exhibn of B-29 Superfortrs Enola Gay. The Enola Gay: The B-29 That Dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. Many veterans had advoted for the display of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortrs ed to drop the bombs, as a celebratn of Amerin triumph over Japan, but there were already ncerns that the Smhsonian was creatg a polilly rrect, revisnist terpretatn of the events.

CONTROVERSY OVER THE ENOLA GAY EXHIBN

Harw rigned on May 2, 1995, jt days before he was schled to ttify Senate June 28, 1995, an exhibn, simply tled "Enola Gay, " opened at the Natnal Air and Space Mm.

HISTORY AND THE CULTURE WARS: THE CASE OF THE SMHSONIAN INSTUTN'S ENOLA GAY EXHIBN

Unlike the ncelled exhibn, "Enola Gay" ntaed no terpretatn, no graphic imag, and no melted objects. Only the felage was on display, acpanied by basic facts and rmatn about the plane's entire Enola Gay bomber is currently on display the "World War II Aviatn" exhibn at the Natnal Air and Space Mm's Steven F.

Related RourcCollectns related to the Enola Gay, Smhsonian Instutn ArchivThe Enola Gay: A Natn's, and a Mm's, Dilemma, Edorial by Mart Harw, The Washgton Post, Augt 7, 1994Special Report: The Smhsonian and the Enola Gay, Air Force Associatn, March 15, 1994Smhsonian Cancels Exhib on Atomic Bomb, The Baltimore Sun, January 31, 1995Recent Acquisn - Rerds om Mart Harw, Director, NASM, 1986-1995, The Bigger Picture, Smhsonian Instutn Archiv. The Smhsonian’s Decisn to Exhib the 'Enola Gay' - Public History Weekly - The Open Peer Review Journal. The Smhsonian’s Decisn to Exhib the ‘Enola Gay’.

THE SMHSONIAN AND THE ENOLA GAY

What harbgers of the future of public history the US rid the mid-1990s fight over the meang of the Enola Gay?

When the Smhsonian cid to exhib the “Enola Gay, ” the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the director and curators of the Natnal Air & Space Mm (NASM) hardly anticipated the firtorm of ntroversy that would rult.

While the “Enola Gay fias, ” as some at the mm me to ll , was not the first skirmish Ameri’s ongog culture wars, was an omo warng of the battl to e. As a NASM curator volved the early planng of the exhib, who was also prent at the bacle, the followg is a first-person acunt of the origs, evolutn, and fate of the “Enola Gay” exhib, tled “The Last Act: The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II.