Searching for America's Nuclear Heritage

ISBN-13: 9783845443096 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 316 str.

Andrew H. Gahan

Opis

The events that occurred in the summer of 1945 altered the trajectory of human history. The Trinity Test in the New Mexico desert and the atomic bombings of Japan forcefully ushered in the nuclear age and long-term impacts on world societies and governments. This study examines representations of those events and their influence on American society and culture as portrayed in museum exhibits. It particularly focuses on the role of museums as memory institutions and the part they play in creating a distinctive memorial or historical narrative. This study utilizes various theories and observations as models on how society creates and maintains public memory, and it seeks to differentiate the diverse but similar meanings of history and heritage. Two narratives underscore the exhibitions within Americas atomic museums that establish the historical context and the frameworks of collective memory. The first is the rush to build the atomic bomb during WWII and the Manhattan Project. The second narrative takes a broad look at the Cold War and role of nuclear weapons played as instruments of mass destruction and peacekeepers.These narratives construct Americas nuclear heritage.

O autorze

Andrew Gahan, Ph.D: Graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno. Studies focused on 20th Century U.S. History, U.S. Cultural History, and Public History. Academic interests include the American West, Atomic culture, and memory studies. Currently working on Volume II of the history of United States Bureau of Reclamation, 1945-2000.