DISCUSSION 4B:  HIROSHIMA, THE ENOLA GAY AND HISTORICAL MEMORY

INTRODUCTION

Controversy involving the "Enola Gay" did not end with the cancelled 1995 exhibit.  In 2003, the Smithsonian announced plans for the display of the fully-reconstructed plane at a large new facility just outside Washington.  The center's curator, retired General Jack Dailey, declared that the machine would be shown "in all its glory as a magnificent technological achievement."

The day the exhibit opened, American antinuclear activists and Japanese hibakusha staged a silent protest at the site.  One unaffiliated demonstrator threw red paint on the "Enola Gay."  Some museum visitors responded to the vigil by chanting "Remember Pearl Harbor" and "Go Home."

READING ASSIGNMENT

THE ENOLA GAY SINCE 1995:

• Bruce Craig, "The Coalition Column: Amid Continuing Controversy Smithsonian Opens Annex Of Air And Space Museum," American Historical Association Perspectives, February 2004.

• "Survivors Of Atomic Bombs Protest Enola Gay Exhibit," Japan Times, December 14, 2003.

• Debbie Ann Doyle, "Historians Protest New Enola Gay Exhibit," American Historical Association Perspectives, December 2003.

• Elizabeth Olson "Enola Gay Exhibits Omits Mention Of Hiroshima Bombing: Many Want Smithsonian To Note A-Bomb Role," New York Times, November 2, 2003.

• "Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Survivors Deplore Enola Gay," SpaceWar, August 20, 2003.

• Elizabeth Olson, "Restored Enola Gay Avoids Controversy: Smithsonian Displays B-29 That Dropped First Atomic Bomb On Hiroshima," New York Times, August 19, 2003.

• "Hiroshima Plane To Go On Display," BBC News, August 18, 2003.

• "Smithsonian Unveils The Restored Enola Gay," USA Today, August 18, 2003.

THE 60 YEAR ANNIVERSARY:

• David Smith, "'I Don't Blame Them But I Hope They Mourn The Dead,'" Observer, July 24, 2005.

ESSAYS AND REFLECTIONS:

• Tom Engelhardt, "Hiroshima Story," Common Dreams Newscenter, August 6, 2004.

OTHER SOURCE MATERIAL:

• For an extensive selection relevant news articles from another course that I teach, see Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Memory In The News

• Bill Dietrich, "Pro And Con: On Dropping The Bomb," Seattle Times, 1995.

• Hiroshima Peace Site -- Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum:  The official Ground Zero Japanese web-site.

• Atomic Bombings Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki, Wikipedia: A brief overview from the on-line encyclopedia.

DISCUSSION FORUM

The discussion forum for this week is divided into two related but nonetheless distinct sections.

PART I

To what extent did last week's role-playing exercise help to illustrate the contrasting perspectives of the various stakeholders in the 1995 Smithsonian "Enola Gay" controversy?  How would you assess the successes and failures of that assignment?  Who owns the past?  Who has the authority to speak to its power and meaning?  Can the Smithsonian debate be used to illustrate broader themes here?

PART II

What do you think is most interesting about the post-1995 history of the "Enola Gay?"  How would you begin to analyze the August 6, 2005 sixty-year anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima?

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