Gay exhibition
• Introduction & Timeline
Travel from the 1800s through to the current day in five time periods spotlighting significant events in Queer history with an emphasis on Washington, DC, and the local Jewish experience.
• Lavender Scare & Military Service
In the 1950s and 60s, the so-called “Lavender Scare” kept thousands of LGBTQ+ Americans out of military service and the federal civil service. Identify the work of Washingtonian Frank Kameny in protesting this discrimination.
• Capital Moments
Washington, DC, the federal metropolis, is where laws are made; Congress is lobbied; and protest marches move between the White Property, the Capitol building, and the Supreme Court. What happens in DC affects the entire nation.
• Welcoming Spaces
Discover welcoming spaces across the city over the past century, from guidebooks promoting LGBTQ+-safe businesses across different eras to the dress worn by DC’s turn-of-the-21st-century Jewish drag queen Ester Goldberg.
• Ritual Practice
Learn about changes in prayer language to include nonbinary worshipers, the establishment of LGBTQ+ congregations, and the development of a more expansive liturgy in Jewish religious services.
• Oral Hist Experience the grit, determination and community of the national queer rodeo circuit in classic black-and-white photographs in Gilcrease Museum’s new exhibition, Blake Little: Photographs from the Gay Rodeo, on view June 22 – November 25, 2018.
Since its founding in 1949, Gilcrease has led the way for artwork showcasing the American West, including depictions of the iconic cowboy. Photographer Blake Little provides an expansive redefinition of what a cowboy can be in his images capturing scenes of camaraderie, identity and sport in one of America’s most time-honored traditions.
The 41 black and alabaster photographs taken by Blake Little between 1988 and 1992 in Photographs from the Gay Rodeo document the lgbtq+ rodeo circuit and the lives of many of its participants in those years. The calm body of serve not only serves as a stunning example of shadowy and white portraiture and of rodeo photography, it also explores the diverse and complex natures of individual and community identity in the West.
“Blake Little’s photographs demonstrate that cowboy traditions in the United States include diverse individuals and communities, broadening notions of self in the American West,” s
In 1994, the National Air and Territory Museum completed an exhibition script titled “The Crossroads: The End of Earth War II, the Atomic Bomb, and the Origins of the Cold War.” Over the next year, this script, and the versions following it, would generate one of the greatest controversies the Smithsonian ever experienced.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and another on Nagasaki three days later. In the years primary up to the 50th anniversary of these attacks, National Air and Cosmos Museum director Martin Harwit and curators Tom Crouch and Michael Neufeld imagined an exhibition that would provide a balanced look at the bombings. The original script, completed on January 14, 1994, contained five sections: "A Battle to the Finish," depicting the last year of Nature War II; "The Decision to Descend the Bomb," raising questions about the need to apply nuclear weapons against Japan; "The World's First Atomic Strike Force," illuminating the experiences of the bomber pilots; "Cities at War" characterizing ground zero; and "The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," discussing the inception of the arms race and the Cold War. In all, the script was over 300 pa
Controversy over the Enola Gay Exhibition
For the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, the National Air and Territory Museum (NASM) proposed an exhibition that would include displaying the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that was used to release the bomb on Hiroshima. A fiery controversy ensued that demonstrated the competing historical narratives regarding the decision to drop the bomb.
Enola Gay, after the war
Following World War II, the Enola Gay had been moved around from location to location. Notably, from 1953 to 1960, its home was Andrews Air Press Base in Maryland. There its wings began to rust and vandals even damaged the plane. In 1961, the Enola Homosexual was fully disassembled and moved to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage facility for NASM.
In the 1980s, members of the 509th Composite Collective asked for a proper restoration of the aircraft. Their motivations, at this time, stemmed primarily from the poor condition of the aircraft. The veterans formed “the Committee for the Restoration and Proud Display of the Enola Gay” to raise funds. Restoration efforts by the Smithsonian started on December 5, 1984. However, the museum felt “ambiv
Experience the grit, determination and community of the national queer rodeo circuit in classic black-and-white photographs in Gilcrease Museum’s new exhibition, Blake Little: Photographs from the Gay Rodeo, on view June 22 – November 25, 2018.
Since its founding in 1949, Gilcrease has led the way for artwork showcasing the American West, including depictions of the iconic cowboy. Photographer Blake Little provides an expansive redefinition of what a cowboy can be in his images capturing scenes of camaraderie, identity and sport in one of America’s most time-honored traditions.
The 41 black and alabaster photographs taken by Blake Little between 1988 and 1992 in Photographs from the Gay Rodeo document the lgbtq+ rodeo circuit and the lives of many of its participants in those years. The calm body of serve not only serves as a stunning example of shadowy and white portraiture and of rodeo photography, it also explores the diverse and complex natures of individual and community identity in the West.
“Blake Little’s photographs demonstrate that cowboy traditions in the United States include diverse individuals and communities, broadening notions of self in the American West,” s
In 1994, the National Air and Territory Museum completed an exhibition script titled “The Crossroads: The End of Earth War II, the Atomic Bomb, and the Origins of the Cold War.” Over the next year, this script, and the versions following it, would generate one of the greatest controversies the Smithsonian ever experienced.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and another on Nagasaki three days later. In the years primary up to the 50th anniversary of these attacks, National Air and Cosmos Museum director Martin Harwit and curators Tom Crouch and Michael Neufeld imagined an exhibition that would provide a balanced look at the bombings. The original script, completed on January 14, 1994, contained five sections: "A Battle to the Finish," depicting the last year of Nature War II; "The Decision to Descend the Bomb," raising questions about the need to apply nuclear weapons against Japan; "The World's First Atomic Strike Force," illuminating the experiences of the bomber pilots; "Cities at War" characterizing ground zero; and "The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," discussing the inception of the arms race and the Cold War. In all, the script was over 300 pa
Controversy over the Enola Gay Exhibition
For the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, the National Air and Territory Museum (NASM) proposed an exhibition that would include displaying the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that was used to release the bomb on Hiroshima. A fiery controversy ensued that demonstrated the competing historical narratives regarding the decision to drop the bomb.
Enola Gay, after the war
Following World War II, the Enola Gay had been moved around from location to location. Notably, from 1953 to 1960, its home was Andrews Air Press Base in Maryland. There its wings began to rust and vandals even damaged the plane. In 1961, the Enola Homosexual was fully disassembled and moved to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage facility for NASM.
In the 1980s, members of the 509th Composite Collective asked for a proper restoration of the aircraft. Their motivations, at this time, stemmed primarily from the poor condition of the aircraft. The veterans formed “the Committee for the Restoration and Proud Display of the Enola Gay” to raise funds. Restoration efforts by the Smithsonian started on December 5, 1984. However, the museum felt “ambiv