Against the wishes of a committee organized by an AU history professor, the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum intends to continue with its planned display of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945,
On Dec. 15, the Smithsonian plans to open a museum near Dulles International Airport that will eventually house 200 airplanes, including Enola Gay. History professor Peter Kuznick formed the Committee for a National Discussion of Nuclear History and Current Policy in response to these plans, charging that by the way it displayed the plane, the Smithsonian was ignoring a chance to discuss the consequences of using nuclear weapons.
The committee sent a petition, signed by about 150 professors, writers and others, to the Air and Space Museum asking that the exhibit include more references to those who died from the effects of the atomic bomb. On Nov. 7, the museum announced that it would go ahead with its original plans.
"We're not going to change the exhibit and we're not going to meet with the group," said museum spokeswoman Claire Brown.
Brown said the Enola Gay display would discuss the plane's historic significance. She referred to a statement on the museum's Web site, which said that the Enola Gay's display placard will serve the same purpose as the placards for other artifacts.
"Over the 27 years of its existence, the museum has carefully followed an approach which offers accurate descriptive data, allowing visitors to evaluate what they encounter in the context of their own points of view," the statement said.
However, Kuznick, who directs AU's Nuclear Studies Institute, and others on the committee believe the display should include more discussion of those who died because of the bomb and of nuclear warfare today.
"There's something very disturbing about the fact that the U.S. is so concerned about the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and yet the Smithsonian is opening an exhibit and they're celebrating a plane that symbolizes the beginning of the most dangerous phase of the use of those very weapons of mass destruction," Kuznick said.
However, in 1995 the Smithsonian planned a display of the plane that had more references to those who died, prompting veterans groups to protest. The museum ended up displaying a toned-down exhibit of Enola Gay that was eventually seen by almost 4 million people, Brown said.
This exhibit would be "nearly identical to [the] exhibit we did in '95," Brown said. "There were almost no objections."
Kuznick said that he still hopes the Smithsonian will work with the committee.
"We hope that the Smithsonian would agree to work with us to change the exhibit to include discussion of the human consequences of the bombing and include discussion of some of the controversy surrounding the decision to drop the bomb," he said.
"We would like to see the Smithsonian cooperate with us in a series of conferences to educate the American people about what happened in 1945 and what is happening with nuclear proliferation today."
On Dec. 13, there will be a national conference about nuclear warfare issues in the Kay Spiritual Life Center, Kuznick said. Speakers at the conference will include journalist Seymour Hersh, who covered the Vietnam War, and survivors of atomic bombs.
"The conference will deal with the meaning of Hiroshima for the present," he said. "We are trying to get people thinking about the dangerous situation in the world now concerning nuclear arms and the threat of nuclear war"