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Cancellation

  • Chapter
An Exhibit Denied

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Abstract

On December 8, 1994, when I was away from Washington at a meeting in Europe, Connie Newman and Mark Rodgers, head of Smithsonian government affairs, met with Herman Harrington, and Hugh Dagley, of the American Legion. Rodgers recalls that Newman was worried that the new Congress might wish to hold hearings on the exhibition, and hoped to enlist the Legion’s help in avoiding them. The Legionnaires apparently were willing to help; but in return, and before they recommended withdrawal of the Legion’s condemnation, they expected to see all video-film footage and other materials that would be part of the Last Act exhibition. Since the Legion was to convene in Washington on February 5, 1995, they would need to review those materials by mid-January.1

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Notes

  1. Mark Rodgers, conversation with Martin Harwit, notes, September 19, 1995, MH.

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  2. Sam Johnson, Peter Blute, Henry Bonilla, Ralph Hall, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Robert K. Dornan, and Duncan Hunter, letter to I. Michael Heyman, December 13, 1994, AFA, The Enola Gay Debate, Congress, May 1995. Edwin Bearss in an interview with Uday Mohan, April 11, 1995, MH.

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  3. Julie A. Rhoad, “The Proposed Enola Gay Exhibit, Is It An Accurate Portrayal of History?” American Legion Auxiliary National News (January/February 1995): 12.

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  4. Hubert Dagley II, letter to National Commander’s Advisory Committee, December 2, 1994. I thank Mr. Dagley for making a copy of this document available to me with an explanatory letter on May 7, 1996. MH.

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  5. William M. Detweiler, to National Commander’s Advisory Committee, Memorandum on “Recommended Final Position on NASM Display,” January 4, 1995, AFA, The Enola Gay Debate, Key Documents, May 1995.

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  8. Mike Heyman, Memorandum on “Exhibition and Public Programming Review,” January 9, 1995. Martin Harwit to Mike Heyman, Memorandum on “Letter on Exhibition and Public Programming Review,” January 9, 1995, NASM/MH.

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  9. Martin Harwit to Mike Heyman, Memorandum on “Sen. Hatfield’s Exhibition on Hiroshima,” January 9, 1995, NASM/MH.

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  10. Martin Harwit, letter to Hubert R. Dagley II, January 9, 1995, NASM/MH.

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  11. William M. Detweiler, “Position Statement of The American Legion Concerning The National Air and Space Museum Exhibit Entitled “The Last Act: The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II,” January 18, 1995, AFA, The Enola Gay Debate, Key Documents, May 1995;

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  13. See note 3.

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  14. See note 11.

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  15. See note 11.

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  16. I. Michael Heyman, quoted in Rowan Scarborough, “Veterans persuade museum to revise WWII exhibit again,” Washington Times, October 21, 1994, p. A3.

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  17. See note 11.

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  41. See note 5.

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  42. See note 3.

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  43. Preble Stolz, “Report to Secretary I. Michael Heyman concerning the Enola Gay Exhibition,” January 26, 1995, page 18. In author’s possession.

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  44. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., “Our Job was to Win,” American Legion Magazine, November 1994, p. 29. (See also news release, Airmen Memorial Museum, June 8, 1994).

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  45. Eugene L. Meyer, “Smithsonian Stands Firm On A-Bomb Exhibit,” Washington Post, January 19, 1995, p. C3.

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Authors
  1. Martin Harwit
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© 1996 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.

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Harwit, M. (1996). Cancellation. In: An Exhibit Denied. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7905-8_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7905-8_28

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-7907-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-7905-8

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