Stephanie,
I beg to disagree where the Iwo Jima photo is concerned. The famous photo
was not staged although posed photos were taken immediately after and they
are much different being group photos of people standing by the then-erect
flagpole.
To see what I'm refering to check this website:
http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingb.htm
<http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingb.htm>
I don't have time right now to get into my own thoughts on political
correctness, but suffice it to say I'm encouraged by the general tone of the
responses so far. It reflects a desire to present the truth on the part of
museum people while recognizing how difficult to impossible that might be.
RT
Ron Twellman, Curator of Collections
EAA AirVenture Museum
P.O. Box 3065
Oshkosh, WI 54903-3065
920-426-5917
-----Original Message-----
From: Piper Severance [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2002 7:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Bronze statue a moving tribute or PC run amok?
While it is easy to see PC run amok in the creation of this statue,
we must remember that images such as this are seldom historically accurate
(at least not in that way). The image of the flag raising on Iwo Jima was
staged and restaged. It was entered into the popular lexicon and been
manipulated endlessly and yet for most Americans it retains an authenticity.
While I personally find the reworked statue a bit sickening, it
reveals far more about our nation and our society during the time of tragedy
then the photo does.
Bronze statue a moving tribute or PC run amok?
By Stephanie Gaskell
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — A statue based on the famous photograph of the flag-raising
at the World Trade Center site is being criticized because the three white
firefighters in the picture have been transformed into one white, one black
and one Hispanic.
Some firefighters and their families say the 19-foot bronze is political
correctness run amok and an attempt to rewrite history.
The $180,000 sculpture is expected to be erected this spring at the Fire
Department's Brooklyn headquarters in tribute to 343 firefighters killed in
the attack. It is based on the Sept. 11 newspaper photo of firefighters
raising the U.S. flag on about 20 feet of rubble.
The decision to represent different races was made by the Fire Department,
maker of the statue, and the property-management company that owns the
department headquarters building and commissioned the work.
"Given that those who died were of all races and all ethnicities and that
the statue was to be symbolic of those sacrifices, ultimately a decision was
made to honor no one in particular, but everyone who made the supreme
sacrifice," Fire Department spokesman Frank Gribbon said.
But Tony Marden of Ladder 165 in Queens called the decision "an insult to
those three guys to put imaginary faces on that statue. It's not a racial
thing. That shouldn't even be an issue."
And Carlo Casoria, who lost his firefighter son, Thomas, said: "They're
rewriting history in order to achieve political correctness."
The three firefighters in the photo — Dan McWilliams, George Johnson
and Billy Eisengrein — declined to comment. But their lawyer, Bill
Kelly, said the men are "disappointed because it's become something that is
political as opposed to historical."
He said he has written to the management company and the department, asking
them to stop production of the statue.
But Kevin James, a member of the Vulcan Society, which represents black
firefighters, welcomed the design.
"The symbolism is far more important than representing the actual people,"
he said. "I think the artistic expression of diversity would supersede any
concern over factual correctness."
Of the city's 11,500 firefighters, 2.7 percent are black and 3.2 percent
Hispanic, Gribbon said. Twelve firefighters who died were black; the number
of Hispanic victims was not available.
A clay model of the statue, created by StudioEis in Brooklyn, was unveiled
Dec. 21. Gribbon and studio director Ivan Schwartz said the statue, while
based on the photo taken by Tom Franklin was not meant to be an exact
replica.
The photo has been likened to the 1945 Associated Press photograph of men
raising the flag at Iwo Jima.
"We were quite shocked that the image was altered," said Jennifer Borg,
attorney for North Jersey Media Group, which publishes The Record and holds
the copyright. The Fire Department sought rights to reproduce the photo, she
said, but the company did not sign an agreement.
Gribbon said the department had not received any official complaints about
the statue.
But John Gilleeny, a retired New York firefighter who edits an e-mail
newsletter about the department, said he has received hundreds of e-mails
protesting the decision.
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