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The museum began planning for the exhibition, and by 1993 a planning document was drafted.The exception was Noel Gayler, a retired antinuclear admiral who argued against the potential of celebrating destruction or memorializing the killing of so many civilians. Veterans had lobbied to have the airplane restored and displayed, and because of the Enola Gay's educational value in an exhibition, all but one of the committee members approved the restoration and display of the airplane.
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This article provides an exceptionally detailed account of the controversy by describing the preparation of the exhibit, the origins and types of objections raised, subsequent revisions in the exhibit, and the decision to cancel it. He bemoans the lost opportunity to educate a vast audience about a defining moment in history, and suggests that the Smithsonian's Secretary and Board of Regents abandoned the planned exhibition for political reasons. The tone of this article is set at the beginning when the author characterizes the January 1995 cancellation of the original Enola Gay exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum as possibly the greatest tragedy to befall the public presentation of history in many years.National Museum of African American History and Culture (88).Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (258).Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (313).National Museum of the American Indian (375).Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (589).Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (698).Smithsonian Institution Building (1640).National Museum of American History (3323).National Museum of Natural History (4231).Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (5562).Pre-set filters help narrow searches by museum or research center. Smithsonian Museum & Research Centers Information Close Browse records and papers documenting the history and research of major Smithsonian divisions.