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From Heroes to Hiroshima: The National Air and Space Museum Adjusts Its Point of View

1990; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 31; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/tech.1990.a901653

1097-3729

Samuel A. Batzli,

Museums and Cultural Heritage

Exhibit Reviews FROM HEROES TO HIROSHIMA: THE NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM ADJUSTS ITS POINT OF VIEW SAMUEL A. BATZLI Many history museums in the United States are altering the messages they present to the public through their exhibits. Tradi­ tional museum topics such as technology, agriculture, and domesticity are being reinterpreted from a more critical perspective. Topics involving the lives of women, blacks, and immigrants are now being recognized as important. In part, these changes reflect trends in historical scholarship that place an increased emphasis on social and cultural history. But the degree to which different history museums are incorporating the so-called new social history in their exhibits varies dramatically. The types of museums that have been the most resistant to these trends are undoubtedly the museums of science and technology.1 The depiction of the history of technology in America has tradi­ tionally been celebratory in nature. While most historians recognize that the societal effect of technological innovations is not always positive, exhibits in technology museums do not reflect this under­ standing. In response to external and internal pressures, administra­ tors and curators of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., have acknowledged that there is a need for a more balanced presen­ tation of history in their museums. Although several Smithsonian museums have recently installed exhibits that take a more critical approach to history, the institution’s largest technology museum, the Mr. Batzli holds a bachelor’s degree in history/history of science from the University of Wisconsin and is a graduate student in the Museum Studies Program at George Washington University. He gratefully acknowledges the cooperation of the National Air and Space Museum staff in the preparation of this review and wishes to thank GWU professors Marie C. Malaro and Dr. Clarence C. Mondale for their valuable criticisms and suggestions. 'In the past, curators at technology museums have argued that it is difficult to present large pieces of technological equipment in any sort of historical context without burying the audiences in large quantities of text. This attitude is slowlv changing as new and innovative exhibit design techniques are developed.© 1990 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/90/3104-0007801.00 830 The National Air and Space Museum Adjusts Its Point of View 831 National Air and Space Museum (NASM), appears to have changed little. Ever since it opened in 1976, NASM has been sharply criticized for celebrating the achievements of air and space technology with little regard for larger historical contexts. A review of current exhibits at NASM suggests that these criticisms remain valid but that signifi­ cant changes have occurred behind the scenes that are intended to broaden the educational content of many of the museum’s current and future exhibits and to create a balance between exhibits that celebrate history and those that critically analyze history. * * * In the past decade or so, there have been several notable critiques of exhibits at science and technology museums. Howard Learner’s 1979 study, White Paper on Science Museums, criticized more than a dozen science museums in North America for producing exhibits that presented the history of technological innovations in a one-sided manner. By avoiding discussion of the economic, political, and envi­ ronmental trade-offs that frequently accompany technological ad­ vancements, he argued, museums were neglecting their responsibility to the public. After critiquing NASM, Learner concluded that it was “basically a temple to the glories of aviation and the inventiveness of the aerospace industry.”2 Two years later, Michal McMahon wrote a critical review of NASM. He charged that the museum was “largely a giant advertisement for air and space technology” and that its fundamental message proclaimed “the fact and value of technological progress.”3 McMahon challenged the museum to balance the propa­ gandistic elements of its exhibits with critical perspectives. The National Air and Space Museum has changed little in the years since Learner and McMahon leveled their criticisms. Exhibits still concentrate on heroic themes. In 1988, for example, a small exhibit housed in a single freestanding case was installed in a prominent location in the west end of the first-floor galleries. The exhibit, which was removed...