However, in late August the NASM admitted that criticisms were correct and that revisions of the script would take place. He stated that the intended audience were the ‘generations of American too young to remember’ the end of the war, and that if they wished these people to learn from these ‘epochal events’ then a well-documented exhibition must be held.
![enola gay exhibit script enola gay exhibit script](https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/EnolaGay/Enola08_1522c20.jpg)
In the August edition of NASM’s magazine, Director Harwit defended the exhibition. The AFA felt that this, by extension, was questioning the honour of the veterans who had done the fighting, and that they represented. They had identified sections in the text which hinted at questioning the morality of America’s fighting methods against the Japanese. It was felt by some critics that this intended tone could possibly be viewed as condemning America’s actions at the end of the War, and also that a possible reaction of the visitors towards the exhibit could see them feeling negatively towards America’s technological developments in the creation of the atomic bomb. The exhibition was planned to emphasis the idea that hindsight could offer different perspectives. The museum had attempted to make an exhibition which had an emotional impact on the viewers, specifically directed towards the devastation cause by the atomic bomb. The problem was perceived in the omissions of material seen as important, the emphasis on certain material, and also the placement of facts and analysis which created a specific mood. The curators had been cautious when presenting historical interpretations, however, this was not the major cause of criticism. Hatch's letter to Harwit can be seen on the Air Force Association's website. Similarly, after discovering the museum’s plans for the exhibition, a petition organised by a group of B29 veterans with over 8,000 signatures asked the Smithsonian to either display the aircraft properly, ‘or turn it over to a museum’ that would. Despite their initial support for the project, after the AFA had looked over the draft they released a press statement and report outlining their criticisms.Įxecutive Director of the Air Force Association, General Monroe Hatch Jr., also sent a letter to Harwit arguing that the exhibits plans inferred that both Japan’s and the United States ‘participation in the war was morally equivalent’, and may even suggest giving Japan the ‘benefit of opinion’ even though they were the aggressor. Harwit then forwarded the draft to the Air Force Association (AFA). The exhibits external advisory committee suggested some revisions, but ultimately they approved of the draft. The Crossroads: The End of World War II, The Atomic Bomb, and the Onset of the Cold W arĮ team curating the exhibition completed the first draft of the exhibit, titled ‘The Crossroads: the end of World War Two, the Atomic Bomb and the origins of the Cold War’.Hiroshima and Nagasaki: A Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum.Even though a few people, including the Secretary of the Smithsonian Robert Adams and some veterans, expressed their concerns Director Martin Harwit insisted that the museum could fairly and responsibly achieve both an exhibition which commemorated veterans and provide further scholarship for the public.Ĭoncept documents for the exhibition included :
![enola gay exhibit script enola gay exhibit script](https://www.atomicarchive.com/media/photographs/nuclear-journeys/enolagay-udvar/media/img_3670.jpg)
![enola gay exhibit script enola gay exhibit script](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/ptPv5IqXvl8Xy9VpGHp1NQArYC0=/800x600/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-photocontest-smithsonianmag-prod-approved.s3.amazonaws.com/9b5f2f0d-69c7-4d1c-b706-51d063fc7179.jpg)
![enola gay exhibit script enola gay exhibit script](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/lunarlegacies/19/584319/H18855-L90961772.jpg)
From the outset of the planning of the exhibition, it was clear that it may been seen as contentious with some audiences. These plans stated that the exhibition’s primary goal was to not only present a ‘historical investigation’ into the event but to also provide an enquiry into the reasons behind America’s decision to drop the bomb in 1945, and whether it was needed or justified. At this time the exhibition plans began to progress with the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) creating many proposals and concept documents. Although the roots of the Enola Gay Controversy started more than two decades before, it really began to take shape in 1993.