Download or read book The Enola Gay and the Smithsonian Institution written by Charles T. O’Reilly and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-01-24 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, which ushered on the end of World War II. For the 50th anniversary of this major event in world history, the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution produced an exhibit. A controversy erupted, however, over the exhibit's historical authenticity. Veterans, for example, complained that the museum displayed a misrepresented version of history. After concisely covering the background of the Enola Gay and its mission, this study focuses on the controversy surrounding the museum exhibit. Issues covered include casualty figures, ethical questions, and political correctness, among others. The viewpoints of such groups as museum personnel, exhibit organizers, veterans, and historians are covered. Appendices offer information on content analysis of the National Air and Space Museum exhibit script, non-museum materials that were intended to complement the exhibit script, and the importance of full disclosure in research.
Download or read book An Exhibit Denied written by Martin Harwit and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 8:15 A.M., August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay released her load. For forty three seconds, the world's first atomic bomb plunged through six miles of clear air to its preset detonation altitude. There it exploded, destroying Hiroshima and eighty thousand of her citizens. No war had ever seen such instant devastation. Within nine days Japan surrendered. World War II was over and a nuclear arms race had begun. Fifty years later, the National Air and Space Museum was in the final stages of preparing an exhibition on the Enola Gay's historic mission when eighty-one members of Congress angrily demanded cancellation of the planned display and the resignation or dismissal of the museum's director. The Smithsonian tnstitution, of which the National Air and Space Museum is a part, is heavily dependent on congressional funding. The Institution's chief executive, Smithsonian Secretary I. Michael Heyman, in office only four months at the time, scrapped the exhibit as requested, and promised to personally oversee a new display devoid of any historic context. In the wake of that decision I resigned as the museum's director and left the Smithsonian.
Download or read book History Wars written by Edward T. Linenthal and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 1996-08-15 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the "taming of the West" to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the portrayal of the past has become a battleground at the heart of American politics. What kind of history Americans should read, see, or fund is no longer merely a matter of professional interest to teachers, historians, and museum curators. Everywhere now, history is increasingly being held hostage, but to what end and why? In History Wars, eight prominent historians consider the angry swirl of emotions that now surrounds public memory. Included are trenchant essays by Paul Boyer, John W. Dower, Tom Engelhardt, Richard H. Kohn, Edward Linenthal, Micahel S. Sherry, Marilyn B. Young, and Mike Wallace.
Download or read book The Smithsonian and the Enola Gay A Retrospective on the Controversy 10 Years Later written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On Aug. 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. A second bomb fell on Nagasaki Aug. 9. Japan surrendered Aug. 15. At Hiroshima, more than half the city was destroyed in a flash, and 80,000 were killed instantly. The Nagasaki bomb killed 40,000. However, these missions brought an end to a war in which 17 million people had died at the hands of the Japanese empire between 1931 and 1945.2 Until the atomic bombs fell, Japan had not been ready to end the war. By eliminating the need for an invasion of the Japanese home islands, the atomic bombs prevented casualties, both American and Japanese, that would have exceeded the death tolls at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The bombing of Hiroshima was a famous event, a defining moment of the 20th century, but the aircraft that flew the mission was largely forgotten and left to deteriorate, until restoration finally began in 1984. Fifty years after Hiroshima, the airplane flew into controversy of a different sort. In the 1990s, the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum laid plans to use the Enola Gay as a prop in a political horror show. It depicted the Japanese more as victims than as aggressors in World War II. When the museum's plan were revealed, initially an article in Air Force Magazine in 1994, a raging controversy ensued. The exhibition was concealed in 1995 in response to public and Congressional outrage, and the museum director was fired. Under new management, the Air and Space Museum returned to its mission to collect, preserve, and display historic aircraft and spacecraft. From 1995 to 1998, the museum displayed the forward fuselage of the Enola Gay in a depoliticized exhibit that drew four million visitors, the most in the museum's history for a special exhibition. Visitor comments were overwhelmingly favorable. In December 2003, the museum put the Enola Gay on permanent exhibition at its new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The controversy never died.
Download or read book Who Owns America s Past written by Robert C. Post and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "From an insider's perspective, Robert C. Post ... offers insight into the politics of display and the interpretation of history. Never before has a book about the Smithsonian detailed the recent and dramatic shift from collection-driven shows, with artifacts meant to speak for themselves, to concept-driven exhibitions, in which objects aim to tell a story, displayed like illustrations in a book"--Dust jacket flap.
Download or read book Enola Gay Archive The Enola Gay and the Smithsonian written by and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Highlights a collection of materials documenting the public debate between veterans and the National Air and Space Museum concerning the Enola Gay exhibit, provided online by the Air Force Association. Notes that Enola Gay was the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945 during World War II. Contains a chronology of events, key correspondence and documents, and Air Force Association special reports.
Download or read book Enola Gay and the Court of History written by Robert P. Newman and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2004 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this hard-hitting, thoroughly researched, and crisply argued book, award-winning historian Robert P. Newman offers a fresh perspective on the dispute over President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan in World War II. Newman's argument centers on the controversy that erupted around the National Air and Space Museum's (NASM) exhibit of Enola Gay in 1995. Newman explores the tremendous challenges that NASM faced when trying to construct a narrative that would satisfy American veterans and the Japanese, as well as accurately reflect the current historical research on both the period and the bomb. His full-scale investigation of the historical dispute results in a compelling story of how and why our views about the bombing of Japan have evolved since its occurrence. Enola Gay and the Court of History is compulsory reading for all those interested in the history of the Pacific war, the morality of war, and the failed NASM exhibition. The book offers the final word on the debate over Truman's decision to drop the bomb.
Download or read book The Smithsonian s History of America in 101 Objects written by Richard Kurin and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-10-25 with total page 786 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Smithsonian Institution is America's largest, most important, and most beloved repository for the objects that define our common heritage. Now Under Secretary for Art, History, and Culture Richard Kurin, aided by a team of top Smithsonian curators and scholars, has assembled a literary exhibition of 101 objects from across the Smithsonian's museums that together offer a marvelous new perspective on the history of the United States. Ranging from the earliest years of the pre-Columbian continent to the digital age, and from the American Revolution to Vietnam, each entry pairs the fascinating history surrounding each object with the story of its creation or discovery and the place it has come to occupy in our national memory. Kurin sheds remarkable new light on objects we think we know well, from Lincoln's hat to Dorothy's ruby slippers and Julia Child's kitchen, including the often astonishing tales of how each made its way into the collections of the Smithsonian. Other objects will be eye-opening new discoveries for many, but no less evocative of the most poignant and important moments of the American experience. Some objects, such as Harriet Tubman's hymnal, Sitting Bull's ledger, Cesar Chavez's union jacket, and the Enola Gay bomber, tell difficult stories from the nation's history, and inspire controversies when exhibited at the Smithsonian. Others, from George Washington's sword to the space shuttle Discovery, celebrate the richness and vitality of the American spirit. In Kurin's hands, each object comes to vivid life, providing a tactile connection to American history. Beautifully designed and illustrated with color photographs throughout, The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects is a rich and fascinating journey through America's collective memory, and a beautiful object in its own right.
Download or read book Hiroshima s Shadow written by Kai Bird and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Writings on the denial of history and the Smithsonian controversy"--Cover.
Download or read book Prompt and Utter Destruction written by J. Samuel Walker and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2016 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reflections of a Culture Broker written by Richard Kurin and published by Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. This book was released on 1997-11-17 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on his diverse experiences in producing exhibitions and public programs, the Smithsonian's Richard Kurin challenges culture brokers--museum professionals, filmmakers, journalists, festival producers, scholars, etc.--to reveal more clearly the nature of their interpretations. Kurin discusses the ethical and technical problems faced by anyone charged with representing culture in a public forum. 33 photos.
Download or read book Atomic Obsession written by John Mueller and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-26 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Mueller argues how our obsession with nuclear weapons is unsupported by history, scientific fact, or logic. Examining the entire atomic era, Mueller boldly contends that nuclear weapons have had little impact on history.
Download or read book The Politics of Display written by Sharon Macdonald and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-10-05 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The assumption that museum exhibitions, particularly those concerned with science and technology, are somehow neutral and impartial is today being challenged both in the public arena and in the academy. The Politics of Display brings together studies of contemporary and historical exhibitions and contends that exhibitions are never, and never have been, above politics. Rather, technologies of display and ideas about 'science' and 'objectivity' are mobilized to tell stories of progress, citizenship, racial and national difference. The display of the Enola Gay, the aircraft which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima is a well-known case in point. The Politics of Display charts the changing relationship between displays and their audience and analyzes the consequent shift in styles of representation towards interactive, multimedia and reflexive modes of display. The Politics of Display brings together an array of international scholars in the disciplines of sociology, anthropology and history. Examples are taken from exhibitions of science, technology and industry, anthropology, geology, natural history and medicine, and locations include the United States of America, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Spain. This book is an excellent contribution to debates about the politics of public culture. It will be of interest to students of sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, museum studies and science studies.
Download or read book Who Owns America s Past written by Robert C. Post and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When preserving our history, what do we choose to value, why, and who decides? Honorable Mention for the National Council on Public History Book Award of the National Council on Public History In 1994, when the National Air and Space Museum announced plans to display the Enola Gay, the B-29 sent to destroy Hiroshima with an atomic bomb, the ensuing political uproar caught the museum's parent Smithsonian Institution entirely unprepared. As the largest such complex in the world, the Smithsonian cares for millions of objects and has displayed everything from George Washington's sword to moon rocks to Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Why did this particular object arouse such controversy? From an insider’s perspective, Robert C. Post’s Who Owns America’s Past? offers insight into the politics of display and the interpretation of history. Never before has a book about the Smithsonian detailed the recent and dramatic shift from collection-driven shows, with artifacts meant to speak for themselves, to concept-driven exhibitions, in which objects aim to tell a story, displayed like illustrations in a book. Even more recently, the trend is to show artifacts along with props, sound effects, and interactive elements in order to create an immersive environment. Rather than looking at history, visitors are invited to experience it. Who Owns America’s Past? examines the different ways that the Smithsonian’s exhibitions have been conceived and designed—whether to educate visitors, celebrate an important historical moment, or satisfy donor demands or partisan agendas. Combining information from hitherto-untapped archival sources, extensive interviews, a thorough review of the secondary literature, and considerable personal experience, Post gives the reader a behind-the-scenes view of disputes among curators, academics, and stakeholders that were sometimes private and at other times burst into headline news.
Download or read book Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum written by Michael J. Neufeld and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Autobiography headlines the collections, both on view and behind the scenes, of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The official story and insiders' tales of the museum are shared by its curators, the people who know it best. Photography and backstage glimpses show off the collection, including well-known artifacts like Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis and the Apollo 11 command module, as well as rare treasures not displayed to the public. --from publisher description.
Download or read book Revisionism Gone Wrong written by Air Force Association and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1994, the National Air and Space Museum, a branch of the Smithsonian Institution, planned to exhibit the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The planned exhibit was closely followed by Air Force Magazine and the Air Force Association and a heated controversy evolved over the next year. Ultimately, public and political outrage caused cancellation of the exhibition and the expulsion of the museum director. The arguments that prevailed, along with key first-hand resources from debate, are collected in these volumes.
Download or read book The Half life of History written by Mark Klett and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In Hiroshima, Japan a twisted steel dome is grim reminder of a city destroyed by the first atomic bomb used in warfare. It is a history no one dares to forget. Halfway around the globe in the Utah/Nevada border stands another ruin, the airplane hangar inside of which the bomber that carried the Hiroshima bomb was readied for its mission. Wendover Airbase, once the world's largest, now crumbles from neglect. The stories and relics at Wendover describe more than the past, they also point to a historic cycle; to a present filled with new apprehensions that carry the potential for a chilling future. Artist Mark Klett, known for his ongoing exploration of landscape, history and the passage of time through the medium of photography, and William L. Fox, a celebrated science and art writer whose work has focused on human cognition and memory, teamed up to create a fascinating visual and verbal multi-layered portrait of Wendover Airbase and the experience of memory in relation to the use of the atomic bomb by the American military in World War II." -- Publisher's description
