Enola Gay Archive

The Enola Gay and the Smithsonian

After "The Last Act" With Martin Harwit gone, the museum displayed the Enola Gay's forward fuselage, a propeller, and other components in a depoliticized exhibit. It drew four million visitors, the most ever for a special exhibit. (NASM photo by Carolyn Russo)

In 1994, the National Air and Space Museum and its parent organization, the Smithsonian Institution, planned to exhibit the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, as a prop in a political horror show. It would have depicted Japan more as the victim instead of the aggressor in World War II.

However, the museum's plans were revealed by Air Force Magazine, the journal of the Air Force Association. A raging controversy ensued, and in response to public and Congressional outrage, the political exhibition was canceled in 1995 and the museum director was fired.

The Smithsonian Institution replaced the original exhibition with a straightforward program that eventually became the most popular exhibition in the museum's history.

The controversy never died. Books and articles continue to appear, many of them written by people who have not bothered to check the facts.

Here are the contemporary articles, reports, and documents - drawn upon by all parties to the controversy - that were the raw materials for the argument in 1994 and 1995.

Here also is the complete report, "The Smithsonian and the Enola Gay," published by the Air Force Association in April 2004.

Chronology of the Controversy

Revisionism Gone Wrong

A collection of Air Force Association reports, analyses and articles, ranging from March 1994 to December 1996 --

Part 1 Special reports and analyses

Part 2 Articles and editorials

The Airplane

The Crew

The Atom Bomb

The Mission

Recommended Reading and Web Site Links

Frequently Asked Questions

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Protection Mode
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—Air Force Secretary Michael Donley during a Pentagon press briefing with Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, Jan. 11, 2013. Donley said the Air Force isn’t sure now that Congress will be able to prevent sequestration from taking effect in March, so the service is taking steps to lessen the blow of sequestration's steep spending cuts.

On the Record

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"Every airman should constantly look for smarter ways to do business. The person closest to the problem is often the one with the best solution. Leaders should empower airmen to think creatively, find new solutions, and make decisions. Airmen at all levels must have the courage to take risks and learn from mistakes as we pursue a stronger Air Force. As we do this, all of our actions will be shaped by our warrior ethos, bounded by our core values, and underwritten by common sense."
—Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh in "A Vision for the United States Air Force," a four-page document released on Jan. 10, 2013, outlining what Welsh thinks the Air Force should focus on as it gears for the future.