Although he eventually became an accomplished astrophysicist and museum director, his Oberlin differential equations classes were tough. Harwit was not Oberlin's best physics student. In a recent interview at his southwest Washington townhouse, Harwit shared his thoughts on the Enola Gay affair, his recently published book on the exhibit, An Exhibit Denied: Lobbying the History of Enola Gay (Copernicus/Springer-Verlag), and his path from Oberlin to the museum. The exhibit was canceled in January 1995 after months of controversy, and Harwit left his post four months later. He was head of the National Air and Space Museum during the contentious fight over a planned exhibition of the newly restored Enola Gay, the airplane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Martin Harwit '51 has gained more fame in the past few years than most astrophysicists get in a lifetime.
Dream Job That Became A Nightnare The Dream Job That Became A Nightmare Martin Harwit And The Enola Gay Exhibit by David Ehrenstein '88
