Memory and History: Debating the Past

The United States, Japan, and World War II

This assignment asks you to consider the nature of public history and the ways in which controversial events in U.S. history are presented to the public. You will evaluate two of the most controversial U.S. actions during World War II: the internment of Japanese Americans in 1942, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Your task is to write a short introduction to one of those events, as part of an exhibit on World War II at a college or university library.

In only a few paragraphs, you must present as complete a picture of each event as possible, while accepting that the intensely controversial nature of your subjects makes it impossible to satisfy everyone with an interest in your work. How do you feel that college or university students should regard U.S. actions in 1942 and 1945? How much, if at all, should you try to reconcile competing interpretations of these events? Consider the following questions as you prepare your work:

1. Was the internment of Japanese Americans justified by the claim of military necessity? Can the relocation camps properly be referred to as "internment" or "concentration" camps, or both? What meaning do students of the U.S. constitution derive from knowledge of Executive Order 9066?
2. Was the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified as a military necessity? How sympathetic should Americans in 2003 be to the plight of [enemy] Japanese civilians in 1945? What importance, if any, should you place on the pride of U.S. military veterans as they consider their role in defeating the Japanese?
3. How does the legacy of anti-Japanese racism and pride in the "Greatest Generation" affect public memory of U.S. actions during World War II?

Japanese American Internment

Familiarize yourself with the following websites:

• A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans & the U.S. Constitution
• Japanese-American Relocation: Internment on the West Coast of the U.S. in World War-II

Keep in mind that most college and university professors consider the position taken by the second website to be a "fringe" opinion, not justified by the historical evidence. Nevertheless, adherents of these views are likely to protest any exhibit you create regarding Executive Order 9066. How then will you introduce your exhibit regarding Japanese-American internment?

The Decision to use the Atomic Bomb

In 1994 and 1995, historians, veterans groups, and the public as a whole became embroiled in controversy over the proposed format of a Smithsonian exhibit about the dropping of the atoic bomb. When drawing up the introduction to your exhibit, consider the following relics of that debate:

• The Last Act, a side-by-side comparison of the two presentations on the Enola Gay as compiled by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
• The Legacy of the Enola Gay, an exhaustive treatment of the controversy by Children of the Manhattan Project
• Enola Gay, an on-line summary of the exhibit as it was finally displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

How, if at all, will your exhibit on the Enola Gay differ from the final version put forth by the Smithsonian? What is your reaction to Veterans’ groups’ protests and historians’ defense of the original exhibit?

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