On 28 Jan. 95, Douglas Greenberg posted a letter from the National
Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History.  The following is an
exerpt of that post:
 
>I thought that some of the member sof this list would be interested to see
>how the Organization of American Historians is addressing the issues
>raised by the exhibit at NASM.
 
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>
>    [this may be freely redistributed--H-Net]
>
>              NCC Washington Update
>         Vol. 1, #5 - January 28, 1995
>    by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National Coordinating
>    Committee for the Promotion of History  <[log in to unmask]>
>
>              Smithsonian's Enola Gay Exhibit Attacked;
>              OAH Responds...
>
>    --Eighty-one members of Congress, 69 Republicans and 12
>    Democrats,
 
 
Mr. Greenberg:  I am aware of several individuals and groups who have sent
letters to Washington regarding this issue.  Each, including mine, represent
a "special interest" point-of-view.  Which POV is to prevail and who shall
decide is the real question here.
 
When I read a letter that uses the word "Attacked" in the header, I know I'm
dealing with a very one-sided point-of-view.  And when I see a general
statistic like "81 members of Congress" defined further as "69 Republicans
and 12 Democrats" then I have a pretty good idea where things are headed. I
wonder what the political mix would be if someone else had initiated the
congressional correspondence? Better yet, I wonder how many people declined
to sign who were asked? (484 names weren't mentioned--hundreds of
Republicans and dozens of Democrats.) The point is, what's the point of the
GOP/Dem. tally in a letter that defines a reasonable position as an "Attack"?)
 
Most likely, there is absolutely nothing untowards about "The Last Act" as
it was originally conceived except for its timing and its location (in that
order). I would argue that in 1995 it should be an "off Broadway" exhibition
at a special interest venue where people would expect to find revisionist,
out-of-historical-context presentations. At some point in the future it
could be moved to "On Broadway." I would also argue that it should not be a
presentation offered by the Smithsonian as part of the 50th anniversary
commemoration. The Smithsonian is a lot of things including THE place where,
for those who were there, one would expect to find the "Mythical American"
p.o.v. regarding the conclusion of WWII.
 
In this instance, "location-location-location" is joined by "it's the timing..."
 
(no disrespect intended)
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rich Jones                              Governing Board For:
Development Director                    Carter House Natural Science Museum
Shasta Natural Science Association      Redding Arboretum By The River
[log in to unmask]              SNSA Environmental Resources Center