NASM ended up displaying the Enola Gay with simple labels and very little interpretation. However, the exhibit was canceled and caused such an uproar that Martin Harwit, director of NASM, was forced to resign. The exhibit was to be called, “The Last Act: The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II.” The exhibit would include information about the war, how the decision was made to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the consequences of dropping the atomic bombs. In summary, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) planned an exhibit around Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
The 'Enola Gay' from the 'Enola Gay' exhibit at the Smithsonian's Air and Space MuseumĪs a Museum Studies student, I have heard about the Enola Gay controversy in several of my classes now.
