One month later, the revised exhibit went on display at the Smithsonian. On January 30, 1995, the Smithsonian announced the cancellation of “The Crossroads: The End of World War II, the Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War.” By May, the debate still showed no signs of abating and Harwit was compelled to resign. In contrast, those on the political left argued that the exhibit represented a “woeful catalog of crimes and aggressions against the helpless peoples of the earth.” For conservatives, the Enola Gay symbolized an American military triumph over an inferior enemy and criticized the Smithsonian Museum for falling prey to “liberal revisionism”. The debate also became highly politicized. They argued that the exhibit perpetuated the myth of World War II as the “Good War.” For children of World War II veterans, their displeasure stemmed from what has been dubbed “Vietnam Syndrome.” They had been raised to examine historical events, especially American wars, under a much more critical lens. However, some historians and other critics argued that the proposed exhibit had “abandoned history with all its uncomfortable complications in favor of feel-good national myths.” Historians did not want an exhibit that only told one side of the complex debate to drop the bomb. For these veterans, World War II was the “Good War” and the atomic bombs brought a good end to the “Good War.” Additionally, for the veterans who had been scheduled to invade Japan, many argued that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved their lives. Veterans of World War II did not want their memories challenged by an exhibit that called into question their actions during the war. Throughout 1994, criticism regarding the Enola Gay exhibit continued to mount. After several more revisions, the script eventually became “The Last Act.” The revised Enola Gay exhibit at the Smithsonian (Photo credit: National Air and Space Museum). Publically, Harwit stated that criticism regarding an unbalanced exhibit was “unfair” however, in an internal memo, he called for a revision. The exhibit extensively detailed the Manhattan Project, along with the after-effects of radiation and the continuing debate regarding the bombings.
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In January 1994, the first draft of the proposed exhibition “The Crossroads: The End of World War II, the Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War” was completed (See the book Judgement at the Smithsonian: The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki edited by Philip Nobile for the full exhibit text).
Crouch eventually wrote the now-infamous words to Adams in July 1993: “Do you want to do an exhibition intended to make veterans feel good, or do you want an exhibition that will lead our visitors to think about the consequences of the atomic bombing of Japan? Frankly, I don’t think we can do both.” However, by the summer of 1993, Robert Adams, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and senior curator Tom Crouch, began to disagree over the portrayal of the Japanese in the exhibit. The director of the museum, Martin Harwit believed that the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan was so significant in the context of the fiftieth anniversary that the full debate of the bombings should be explored. The Enola Gay fuselage in a storage warehouse at the Smithsonian Institution (Photo credit: Wikipedia). The Enola Gay had been in storage for several years because the Smithsonian had no room for the airplane and was in dire need of restoration. Finally, unlike previous years, “the late 1980s and 1990s did not see the emergence of such all-consuming issues such as the Vietnam War, urban riots, or Watergate, which had earlier diverted attention from nuclear issues.” Coinciding with this anniversary, the Smithsonian Institution planned an exhibit that would showcase the fuselage of the Enola Gay, along with several other World War II-era aircraft. Secondly, enough time had passed for these veterans to come to terms with their actions during the war. For some, the fiftieth anniversary would be the last time that they would be able to record their stories. First, many veterans who had served in the war were still alive, but realized that they were aging quickly. However, as the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II drew near in 1995, interest over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki renewed.
Awareness of the dropping of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki diminished greatly.
The Soviet Union had fallen and the threat of nuclear destruction seemed to temporarily disappear. In the early 1990s, public attention concerning nuclear affairs was scant.