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. This is, imho, a forthright and direct
statement that hits precisely the irght issues in precisely the right tone.
I wish that AAM and its official organ, Museum News, were capable of so
clear headed an approach to a matter that potentially affects ALL museums.
Douglas Greenberg
President and Director
Chicago Historical Society
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 28 Jan 1995 12:31:43 -0600 (CST)
From: H-Net Central <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: v1#5 is in the mail [rj]
From: LYNX::CAMPBELLD "H-Net Central" 28-JAN-1995 12:30:44.84
To: @H-POST
CC: CAMPBELLD
Subj: NCC Washington Update v1 #5 January 28, 1995
[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, sent a letter on January 24 to Smithsonian Secretary
Michael Heyman that sharply criticized the Smithsonian's National
Air and Space Museum Enola Gay exhibit. This year marks the 50th
anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Japan.
The exhibit slated to open this spring focuses on the fuselage of
the Enola Gay aircraft, the B-29 that carried the bomb. The
letter calls for the director of the Air and Space Museum to be
fired, the exhibit to be cancelled, and oversight hearings to be
held. There will be four new Republican regents recently
appointed by Congressional leaders when the Regents meet.
Speaker Gingrich has named Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), a critic of
the exhibit, to be a Regent. While there were indications
earlier that the House planned to hold hearings on the
Smithsonians' handling of this and other exhibits, Senator
Majority Leader Bob Dole (KS-R) has also called for hearings in
the Senate.
Response of three leaders of the Organization of American
Historians -- Eric Foner, the immediate past President of OAH,
Gary Nash, the current President, and Michael Kammen, the
President-Elect wrote a joint letter to the Honorable William H.
Rehnquist, the Chairman of the Board of Regents of the
Smithsonian Institution. The Board will be meeting on Monday,
January 30, and the issue of the Enola Gay will be on the agenda.
The OAH Presidents' letter states in part:
We earnestly hope that the Board will not decide to cancel
the forthcoming exhibition planned for the National Air and
Space Museum -- the controversial exhibition concerning the
end of World War II in the Pacific Theatre.
We are concerned about the profoundly dangerous precedent of
censoring a museum exhibition in response to political
pressures from special interest groups. Such a precedent
is likely to invite subsequent attempts to cancel other
exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution.
Moreover, the attendant publicity if this exhibit is
cancelled will send a chilling message to museum
administrators and curators throughout the United States
because the Smithsonian is the most visible and most public
of all American museum complexes. Doing so would sent the
explicit message that controversial subjects cannot be
examined openly as a part of our democratic civic life.
More specifically, it would send the message that certain
aspects of our history are "too hot to handle," so
susceptible to contested points of view that they must be
excluded form the public mind. Differences of opinion about
the study of the past have long been an inescapable part of
the social and cultural process. We cannot hide that from
the public.
History museums should not be confined only to exhibitions
about subjects for which a perfect consensus exists. Where
consensus already exists, there is the least need for the
presentation of information and the opportunity for members
of our diverse society to be educated and formulate opinions
In sum, cancellation of 'The Last Act,' would be a
disservice to the American people to thousands of history
museums across the country, and to the Smithsonian
Institution itself. It is an act that could later haunt the
Institution because its professional integrity and
intellectual freedom will have been compromised."
----
Correspondence to the Smithsonian Regents should be addressed to
the Honorable William H. Rehnquist, Chairman of the Board of
Regents, and faxed to James Hobbins, Special Assistant to the
Board of Regents. Fax Number (202) 786-2515. [The critical
meeting will be at 10am Jan 30.]
--
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