The Washington Post reports this morning that the Enola Gay exhibit
may be canceled. Smithsonian Secretary I. Michael Heyman is said to be
planning to propose the cancellation at the Smithsonian Board of Regents
meeting scheduled for Monday (January 30).
     If not cancelled, according to our story, the exhibition will at
least be sharply curtailed, perhaps to display of a section of the
bomber's fuselage with a cursory text noting when and where The Bomb was
dropped, but little or nothing about why
     Secretary Heyman has taken personal charge of the exhibit. He
canceled a meeting that Martin Harwit, Director of the National Air &
Space Museum, had called to discuss further text revisions. Heyman is
said to be appalled, first, by the original text and various fallback
positions Harwit has taken, and second, by Harwit's inability to deal
effectively with the objections that have been raised.
     The controversy, the story notes, has created severe problems for
the fundraising campaign for next year's celebration of the Smithsonian's
150th anniversary. Only one corporation has come up with the $10 million
contribution the Institution is seeking--and that one gave anonymously.
 
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Hank Burchard * Weekend Section * The Washington Post
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