The Enola Gay Controversy - Resources

Web Sites On: Enola Gay Controvery | Atomic Bomb

Web Sites On the Atomic Bomb and Its Consequences (Updated 6/2006)

A-Bomb WWW Museum: https://www.csi.ad.jp/ABOMB/; This website attempts to "provide all readers with accurate information concerning the impact the first atomic bomb had on Hiroshima" and to "provide the context for a constructive discussion of what the world can learn from this event and why such weapons of total destruction should never again be used." To this end, you can find both items personal--photos, anecdotes, stories--and more overtly political--letters, reports, essays--about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, mostly from a candid Japanese perspective, on this archive.
Alsos: Digital Library for Nuclear Issues: https://alsos.wlu.edu/default.aspx; "The Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues provides a broad, balanced range of annotated references for the study of nuclear issues. . . . It is the mission of the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues to make the history and current status of nuclear issues more accessible and comprehensible to the general public as well as to students and educators in the many fields influenced by the forces of the nuclear age."
Atomic Bomb: Decision: https://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html; In this personal web archive, you'll find links to transcribed official diaries and other documents from a well-rounded selection of the major American players (Truman, Szilard, Groves) in the 1945 atomic tests that led up to the ultimate decision to drop the atomic bomb. Also features an excerpt from Truman's radio speech to the nation on August 9, 1945.
Atomic Archive: https://www.atomicarchive.com/main.shtml; This site is an online companion to AJ Software's CD-ROM of the same name. You can read some short biographies, a first-hand account by Enrico Fermi of the Trinity Explosion, some well-reproduced photographs, and cool animations of nuclear physics; all of this site looks really good without the CD-ROM. There's also an online store to satisfy your nuclear paraphernalia jones.
The Atomic Bomb: Experience, History, and Memory: https://www.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/syllabus1.html; This site contains a syllabus for a course at Lewis and Clark College that investigates the viewpoints surrounding the 50th anniversary of the atomic bomb's detonation over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The list of books and movies studied are varied and would probably provide more opportunities for further research.
Atomic Bomb Cinema: https://www.atomicbombcinema.com/english/home/home.htm; A companion to Jerome Shapiro's book of the same name, making available a rich source of visual materials that could not be included in the book: film stills, film posters, scenes from key films, art works, bomb and bomb film related objects, and statistical data.
Atomic Bombing: How to Protect Yourself: https://foody.org/atomic/atomic00.html; A 1950s survival guide.
The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: https://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mpmenu.htm; Here, in this project of Yale University's Avalon Project, you'll find the (transcribed) full text of The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, originally compiled and written by the Manhattan Engineer District on June 29, 1946, with helpful hyperlinks to other full-text historical documents referenced in this text.
Blast Mapper: Map a Blast: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/sfeature/mapablast.html; Initially designed as part of a special educational feature to accompany PBS's The American Experience feature on "Race for the Superbomb," the Nuclear Blast Mapper will demonstrate just how destructive nuclear weapons are. For those who are morbidly curious (or just morbid), you can pick your weapon, choose your least (or most) favorite town in the USA, and with one click of the mouse, you'll discover the range of destruction of the blast.
The Cold War: https://www.academicinfo.net/histcold.html; An academic site that contains lots of links to sites around the web pertaining to the many facets of the cold war; a good place to start if you're a student or a teacher wanting to get a sense of context for the decision to drop the bomb.
Conelrad: https://www.conelrad.com/; "CONELRAD was a national Emergency Broadcasting System outlet available during the early Cold War. What IS CONELRAD? CONELRAD is a site devoted to ATOMIC CULTURE past and present but without all the distracting and pedantic polemics. CONELRAD is the creation of writers who grew up in the shadow of the BOMB and all its attendant pop culture fallout. We wish to share our collected interest, experience and obsession with this strange era."
The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb: https://www.whistlestop.org/study_collections/bomb/large/bomb.htm [Archived]; Part of the Harry S. Truman digital archive on the Internet, you can read an online book about the decision, read some primary source material (such as White House meeting minutes and Interim Committee notes), as well as check out some post-war official documents pertaining to the use of atomic energy and weapons, on this teacher- and student-friendly site.
"The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb": Gar Alperovitz and the H-Net Debate: https://www.doug-long.com/debate.htm; You'll find an interesting commentary on and guide to Gar Alperovitz's book The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb here. What's interesting and valuable is the fact that you can read contemporary analysis and commentary from top historians in the debate that erupted on H-Net mailing lists about this controversial book.
Education World: Great Sites for Teaching About: Hiroshima and Nagasaki: https://www.education-world.com/a_sites/sites037.shtml; This site comes from the collection of Education World teaching resource websites. As the site claims, it lists many "intriguing, captivating, educational, and occasionally controversial" links to other websites about Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the atomic bomb. A good place to start for teachers and students interested in finding more about the decision to drop the bomb, as well as its aftermath.
Fifty Years from Trinity: https://seattletimes.nwsource.com/trinity/; A wonderful, user-friendly site, hosted by The Seattle Times' educational services, that collects articles about the Trinity nuclear testing site in New Mexico (where the first atomic bomb was detonated in July 1945), and the Nevada (1962 nuclear detonation) and Hanford, Washington (home to Washington's only nuclear power plant) sites, together with related articles and supplemental material about the ramifications and legacies of the atom bomb. There's also a large collection of interactive material where you can take a radiation quiz or post your thoughts on the atomic age, a study guide for teachers, and a short list of links to other relevant sites around the Internet.
Focus on History: https://www.nuclearfiles.org/issues/focusonhistory/index.html [Archived]; This site is valuable in its attempt to contextualize the decision to drop the atomic bombs and this decision's aftermath, with links to information and documents about the Cuban Missile Crisis, Oppenheimer's opposition to the bomb, the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty of 1996.
H-Asia: Smithsonian Enola Gay Exhibit Controversy: https://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~asia/threads/thrdenola.html; This website is most notable for its collection of transcribed articles, reports, and U.S. Senate hearings that took place from February 10 to September 25, 1995 about the controversy, together with responses to them, all from members of the H-Asia mailing list discussion group. A fascinating peek at the controversy as it was happening, as seen through the eyes of the history (and other) scholars, some of whom were key players in this debate.
The High Energy Weapons Archive: https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/; This site, intended to be a sister site to the Trinity Atomic Web Site (see below) contains "current information, technical data, and informative write-ups" of countries that have nuclear capabilities in the 2000s. Many links to background research and resouces to help create a fuller picture of the existence and consequences of the world's nuclear arsenal.
Hiroshima: Was It Necessary?: https://www.doug-long.com/; Most excitingly, this website features a long and well-researched article questioning the necessity of dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, with many hypertext links to peripheral information concerning the event. Also has a great list with much information about major players in the event (thankfully, both Americans and Japanese), some transcribed excerpts from diaries and private papers from Stimson, Bard, and Truman, and some links to other sites around the web.
Hiroshima Archive: https://www.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/; Lewis and Clark College's history department hosts this archive that was set up on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, in order to collect information about the debate and spark further interest and discussion. Notable for housing the work of Japanese photographer Hiromi Tsuchida, whose photos of 1979 Hiroshima, objects that were rescued from the blast, and portraits of survivors, are evocative, even seen on a computer screen.
Hiroshima Directory: https://www.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/directory.html; This site comes from Lewis and Clark's Hiroshima Archive, and compiles many good Internet links and a bibliography of printed materials about the bombing of Hiroshima. The main foci of this directory, the site notes, are history and the arts.
Hiroshima Live Project: https://www.csi.ad.jp/hiroshima-live/index.html; Every year on August 6 a ceremony has been held in its Peace Memorial Park, in order to "pray for repose of souls of the victims and for our desire to create a world free from nuclear weapons." This website has links to pictures, audio files, movie files, and transcriptions of the events of the ceremony that took place in Hiroshima on August 6, 1995, the 50th anniversary of the dropping of the bomb.
Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-Bomb Exhibition: https://www.wagingpeace.org/exhibit/slides/01_title.htm; This site is most notable for its slideshow of images from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's collection. Over 30 well-annotated and reproduced images that show the after-effects of the explosions, and featuring a call for change from the Foundation.
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Nuclear Weapons: https://www.dannen.com/moreinfo.html; You'll find a list of links pertaining to either the two Japanese sites of the 1945 atomic explosions, or to the history of nuclear weapons on this site.
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the National Air & Space Museum: Three Explosions that Changed History: https://www.norwich.net/~pstrany/ocw/atomic/index.htm [Archived]; An aviation buff and an ex-member of the Air Force wrote the long hypertext article on this site in 1995 to discuss the controversy. Includes photos, excerpts from Secretary Heyman's statement at the Enola Gay exhibit's opening in 1995, and some links to outside sources.
Hiroshima Peace Site: https://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/index_e2.html; A powerful site by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum contains, among other things, pages under such titles as the reality of the A-bomb (for instance, testimonies), the current status of nuclear weapons ( for instance, a time-line of crises), and the will to create peace (for instance, the mayors for peace conference).
The History of the Doomsday Clock: https://www.thebulletin.org/clock.html; This is a feature on the electronic version of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Originally set in 1947 at 7 minutes to midnight to demonstrate the urgency of the world's nuclear situation, the hands of the clock have moved 16 times. Find out when and how with text-heavy links from this informative site.
Jayne Loader's Public Shelter: https://www.publicshelter.com/main/index.html; "Public Shelter is a . . . record of America's love affair with the atom. . . . loaded with the most important, exciting and absurd content ever assembled about nuclear weapons, testing, human radiation experiments, and atomic power, from the Trinity test to the present."; Atomic Cafe https://www.publicshelter.com/main/tac.html; Civil Defense https://www.publicshelter.com/browser/ocd.html; Letter from Texas https://www.publicshelter.com/main/letter.html; Our Friend, the Atom https://www.publicshelter.com/contest/books.html; Peace, Anti-Nuclear, & Test Ban https://www.publicshelter.com/linx/pea.html
The Last Act: https://nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/history/post-cold-war/smithsonian-controversy/index.htm; The table in the main frame of this site contains side-by-side links to both the first and final drafts of the planned Enola Gay exhibit, called "The Last Act: The Atomic Bomb and the End of WWII," which was cancelled on January 30, 1995. You can also find links to historical documents pertinent to the unit called "The Decision to Drop the Bomb" here.
Leo Szilard Online: https://www.dannen.com/szilard.html; An "internet historic site" dedicated to physicist, inventor, and moral scientist Szilard, who wanted to warn Roosevelt and Truman about the potentially far-reaching and horrible consequences of his research on atomic fission. Contains many links to biographical information, photographs, and other resources for learning more about both the scientist, his works, and his role in the development of atomic energy. (The sub-pages listed below are annotated separately on this list.); Atomic Bomb: Decision https://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html; Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Nuclear Weapons https://www.dannen.com/moreinfo.html; Web Links to Hiroshima https://www.dannen.com/hiroshima_links.html; Web Links to Nagasaki https://www.dannen.com/nagasaki_links.html
The Manhattan Project: https://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/history/pre-cold-war/manhattan-project/index.htm; Here, you'll find transcriptions of original documents pertaining to the Manhattan Project, code-name for the secret group of scientists and soldiers who were working on developing the atomic bomb in New Mexico.
Museum of World War II: https://www.museumofworldwarii.com/; "Formed over a period of more than 40 years, the collection documents and illustrates the period from the Versailles Treaty ending World War I to the Nuremburg and Tokyo war crimes trials ending World War II." Online are such images as:; An August 6, 1945, newspaper headline https://www.museumofworldwarii.com/images/TourPictures/16a_Newspaper_Lge.jpg [Archived]; A leaflet dropped on Japan before the bombing: https://www.museumofworldwarii.com/images/TourPictures/16a_Trumanleaflet_lge.jpg [Archived]
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum: https://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/na-bomb/museum/museume01.html; The museum web site contains pictures of city artifacts after the bombing, among other things.
The Nagasaki Peace Declaration: https://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/abm/abm_e/index.html; "The Nagasaki Peace Declaration, delivered each year on August 9 at the Nagasaki Peace Ceremony, is an address made by the Mayor on behalf of the citizens of Nagasaki who experienced the destruction of nuclear weapons. This Declaration embodies the hope that weapons of mass destruction will never be used again and that war will cease."
Nagasaki Nightmare: https://burn.ucsd.edu/atomintr.htm [Archived]; Shockingly powerful photos, drawings (many by survivors), and poetry (by a Hibakusha) about the experience of being atomic-bombed -- on the in-your-face BURN! web site by the Groundwork Collective at the University of California, San Diego.
Nagasaki Nightmare: The Art of the Hibakusha (Atom Bomb Survivors): https://www.art-for-a-change.com/Atomic/atomic.htm; "The Paintings comprising this exhibition are sober reminders of the reality of Atomic Warfare, created by people who actually lived through an Atomic Holocaust."
Nuclear Files.Org: https://www.nuclearfiles.org/; Despite its simple promise to provide "information on nuclear weapons and nuclear war," you'll find an exhaustive and regularly-updated collection of links to everything under the sun pertaining to our world's nuclear age. A project of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. (Several sub-pages are listed separately on this list.)
Nuclear Science and Nuclear Weaponry History: https://www.english.upenn.edu/~traister/nuclear.html; A long list of links to sites relevant to the study of the history of nuclear science and nuclear weaponry.
Nuclear Studies Institute: https://www.american.edu/academic.depts/cas/hist/nsi/nsi.cfm; This American University program is "dedicated to educating the public about crucial aspects of nuclear history." Collects lists of books, articles, syllabi, links, and so forth.
Nuke Pop: https://www.wsu.edu/~brians/nukepop/index.html; Washington State University houses this fascinating site that looks at pop cultural representations (mostly in comic books, though) of nuclear war and the nuclear bomb. Sort of to be used as an illustrated essay, this site has a chronological listing of "nuke pop" topics, from early reactions, through "bomberotica," to a Japanese interpretation, this site is (dare we say) fun to use and read.
Personal Record of Hiroshima A-Bomb Survival: https://www.coara.or.jp/~ryoji/abomb/e-index.html; You can find a transcription of a document from 1945 here, written by a doctor practicing medicine at the time of the Hiroshima explosion, along with commentary written in response to the narrative, from folks from around the world.
The Race to Build the Atomic Bomb: A Resource for Teachers and Students: https://intergate.cccoe.k12.ca.us/abomb/; Contains time-lines, factual essays, lesson plans, aids to research, and links to further information. Seems geared to help satisfy California education objectives.
Rare film documents devastation at Hiroshima: https://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/10/japan.hiroshima.film/index.html; Most importantly, this site from CNN contains a link to a QuickTime movie, excerpted from three hours of unedited film that was discovered in 1993, of footage of Hiroshima after the dropping of the bomb. You have to strain your eyes to watch it, but it's harrowing nonetheless. Also has a few links to related sites around the web.
Remembering Nagasaki: https://www.exploratorium.edu/nagasaki/; As the site says, "in observance of the 50th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Exploratorium presents the photographs of Japanese Army photographer Yosuke Yamahata, along with a public forum on issues related to the atomic age." Some incredible photography, a long list of links, a bibliography of resources, and a message board with many comments from the anniversary round out this well-designed archive devoted to the often-forgotten second Japanese city to be destroyed by a nuclear bomb.
The Seamless Monument: https://www.seamlessmonument.com [Archived]; Poetry and photographs by Daniel Paley Ellison on Hiroshima and Auschwitz-Birkenau, bearing witness to genocide.
Songs About Nuclear War from the Eighties: https://www.inthe80s.com/nuclearwar/; Alphabetical list with annotations. Many more songs than I'll bet you would imagine.
The 1000 Cranes Project Home Page: https://www.csi.ad.jp/suzuhari-es/1000cranes/index.html; A children's site relating to the story of Sadako and the paper cranes.
Trinity Atomic Web Site: https://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/atomic/; This huge archive does a great job of telling the story of nuclear weapons through its primary sources. An incredible collection of documents, photos, and videos about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, yes, but also about the original Trinity site in New Mexico, as well as assorted other photos and documents about nuclear energy, weapons, and testing, and links to similar sites around the web.
Trinity Site Photo Index: https://www.wsmr.army.mil/paopage/Pages/Tpixind.htm [Archived]; Lots of photos from the Trinity Site in New Mexico at the time of the 1945 tests. The photographs are arranged according to such headings as "The Camp and Life On-Site," "Test Bed Preparation / Instrumentation," "The Gadget and Explosion," and "Afterwards." A great visual document of the historic time.
Truman on Trial for Dropping the Bomb: https://historynewsnetwork.org/articles/article.html?id=190; On August 3, 2001, on the History News Network online, one historian prosecuted and another defended President Harry S. Truman for violating Article 6 of the Nuremberg Charter, which outlaws "the wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity." Scroll down this poorly laid-out site to see a chronological list of the opening arguments from the "lawyers," verdicts from the "jury" (made up of historians across the country), and responses to the verdict. A fascinating look at a "what if" scenario from history.
The Unofficial Trinity Site Page: https://members.aol.com/JTankard/trinity/home.html; A professional photographer's web site on the Trinity Site in New Mexico. Some great current photographs of the site, and a report on a recent visit. Also contains links to other sites dealing with the Trinity Site.
Voice of Hibakusha: https://www.inicom.com/hibakusha/; You'll find links to transcriptions of survivor's accounts of the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki here.
Web Links to Hiroshima: https://www.dannen.com/hiroshima_links.html; All the links from this site are to websites based in Hiroshima, Japan, that deal with the atomic bombing or with other Hiroshima-based events or issues (such as the city of Hiroshima's web page, and the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, begun after the bombing, and based in Hiroshima).
Web Links to Nagasaki: https://www.dannen.com/nagasaki_links.html; Similar to the links page above, this site links to pages based in Nagasaki; for example, you can find a memoir from 1945 written by a doctor practicing medicine at the time, or check out the Nagasaki Peace Declaration and Atomic Bomb Museum.
World War II - The Atomic Bomb: https://www.academicinfo.net/histbomb.html; An academic site that contains many helpful and up-to-date links to sites around the web pertaining to the atomic bomb.