Projecting an Atomic Legacy: the Manhattan Project National Historical Park and Conflicting Public Memories

Abstract

"When either Americans or Japanese talk about the bombings, they are thinking about the meaning of World War II, of subsequent wars, and of prospective conflicts" - Laura Hein and Mark Selden, 1997. In December 2014, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, then-President Obama authorized the creation of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park (MPNHP) to "improve public understanding of the Manhattan Project and the legacy of the Manhattan Project." The establishment of the MPNHP in November 2015 represented the culmination of a multi-year effort from the non-profit Atomic Heritage Foundation (AHF), the National Park Service (NPS), and the Department of Energy (DOE), along with local interest groups such as the B-Reactor Museum Association (BRMA), to preserve and restore buildings associated with three major Manhattan Project sites. The national decision to preserve historical sites closely associated with the still-controversial American decision to drop atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 provoked a wide range of debate and discussion, both within the United States and in Japan. Debates over the American deployment of the atomic bomb during World War II often reflect divergent interpretations of World War II, of nuclear weapons, and of public memory. These interpretations range from the 1945 atomic bomb justifications set out by President Harry Truman and his advisors, to Japanese claims that the atomic bombing should be considered a "war crime" against Japan. Public memories of the atomic bombing naturally evolved very differently in the United States and in Japan. As the philosopher and social theorist Michel Foucault argues, "historical memories are constantly refashioned to suit present purposes. Drawing from historian John Bodnar's definition of public memory as "the view of a past event that is widely shared by members of a community (local or national)," historian Michael Hogan notes that these "collective" memories are often strategically created by the government "to forge historical traditions that could serve their interests." By harnessing the "power of the group that holds [these memories]," the dominant power group is able to utilize these historical memories to override alternative memories and historical interpretations. Physical sites such as museums, public memorials, and national parks can provide a physical manifestation of dominant public memories, but conflict between the public memories presented through the physical site and alternative interpretations has provoked international public debate and controversy. This research will investigate three primary guiding questions: How is the public memory of the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb interpreted at MPNHP? How has this interpretation diverged from other interpretations? How does the National Park Service and the Department of Energy plan address these alternative memories? Within this conceptual framework of public memorials and evolving public memory, analyzing the international debate over the Manhattan Project National Historical Park's creation provides a lens for interpreting the complexity of atomic public memories in both the United States and Japan.