“Do you want to do an exhibit
intended to make veterans feel
good, or do you want an
exhibition that will lead our
visitors to think about the
consequences of our atomic
bombing of Japan? Frankly, I do
not think we can do both.”
--Tom Crouch to Smithsonian
Director Martin Harwit, 1993
"The Crossroads: The End of World
War II, the Atomic Bomb, and the
Origins of the Cold War."
"The Last Act: The Atomic Bomb
and the End of World War II."
From the original script:
“For most Americans, this war was fundamentally different
than the one waged against Germany and Italy--it was a war of
vengeance. For most Japanese, it was a war to defend their
unique culture against Western imperialism.”
The revised version:
“For most Americans, this war was different from the one
waged against Germany and Italy: it was a war to defeat a
vicious aggressor, but also a war to punish Japan for Pearl
Harbor and for the brutal treatment of Allied prisoners. For
most Japanese, what had begun as a war of imperial conquest
had become a battle to save their nation from destruction.”
January Script
Revised Script
Total photos
75
64
"Human suffering" photos
49
37
Photos featuring women,
children, religious objects
25
23
Total artifacts
26
24
Object-related
16
16
Person-related
10
8
Artifacts related to
women, children, religion
13
12