An Exhibit Denied: Lobbying the History of Enola Gay

by Martin Harwit

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.

Genres: History

477 pages, Hardcover

First published August 29, 1996

Reviews

[Landon Wilkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific overview of an absolutely unfortunate event. The loss of the carefully curated Enola Gay exhibit leaves a void in public history efforts to educate people about the atomic bombings of World War II and the new era of nuclear weapons that has impacted us all. Martin Harwit expertly tells of the efforts put into making the Enola Gay exhibition a success and the unfortunate factors that caused its downfall.

[Eric Cartier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in a junior year history writing seminar and still often think of it. Last night it came to mind while I listened to an old George Carlin standup special, particularly during his takedown of the phrase "God Bless America". I learned we have this tome in the stacks at the State Library, so I'll have a look at it again soon - if not a full reread, then simply for a reminder of how Congress, veterans' groups, and the media dismantled what could have been an extraordinary exhibit.