Its Ujina Harbor became a staging area for Japan's militaristic empire in the late 19th century and beyond.Īnother area in the exhibit explores the question of why the United States dropped the atomic bomb. One panel explains that Hiroshima changed from a peaceful city known for its many schools to the headquarters for the Fifth division of the Japanese army. Then it begins to offer historical context _ something critics of the Enola Gay exhibit say that exhibit is lacking.
When visitors enter the modest exhibit, they are told that the university is trying to "bring new knowledge into the community and to provide a forum for the free and respectful exchange of ideas." "It almost seems like they are being held up as more deserving of compassion" than other bombing victims in the war, Budahn said. Veterans groups were mild in reacting to the new exhibit, saying a private university has every right to display the artifacts and descriptions of the bombing.Īmerican Legion spokesman Phil Budahn complained that atomic bomb victims were getting excessive attention. In a joint statement displayed at the exhibit, the mayors of the two cities say the bombings "indiscriminately killed and wounded non-combatants, including the elderly, women and children."īut they add: "We are not criticizing or blaming the United States." It was produced in cooperation with the two Japanese cities, and the mayor of Hiroshima is set to speak at today's opening. "We must never forget that nuclear weapons are the fruits of war."Īmerican University's Nuclear History Institute planned the exhibit for more than a year. "The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima created enormous suffering at the time and it continues to cause suffering today in those who were exposed," the exhibit text says. In the American University exhibit, 50 panels offer a history of Japanese aggression, images of the cities, recollections of the survivors _ called Hibakusha _ and the hope that nuclear weapons have been used for the last time. Several of the items were included in an early script for the Enola Gay display until objections from military veterans and Congress forced the Smithsonian to back off. The exhibit includes 25 artifacts from the two Japanese cities destroyed by the bombs dropped by the United States.
It is there, in a 1,900-square-foot converted board room, that the private university's exhibit, Constructing a Peaceful World: Beyond Hiroshima and Nagasaki begins its three-week run today.