Canoeing, Bikini Island
date: label: Date made
content: 1946
name: label: photographer
content: Mydans, Carl
notes: label: Description
content: After the conclusion of World War II, President Harry S. Truman issued a directive to Army and Navy officials stating that joint testing of nuclear weapons would be necessary "to determine the effect of atomic bombs on American warships."
label: Description
content: Bikini was chosen to be the new nuclear testing ground for the U.S. government because of its location away from regular air and sea routes. In order for the project to get underway, the natives needed to be relocated to a different island. Mydans was sent to the island to document the exodus of the people of Bikini to the nearby island of Rongerik in March of 1946. The story was published by <i>LIFE</i> (Mar 25, 1946).
label: Description
content: Outrigger canoes, like the one pictured here, were the Island people's main mode of transportation. The calm waters eventually became the stage for atom bombs testing on target ships. Before the evacuation, U.S. sailors helped the natives paint canoes.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Marshall Islands: Bikini & Kili, Bikini Atoll
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
label: See more items in
content: Photography
label: See more items in
content: Carl Mydans
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Life Magazine
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0228.098
label: accession number
content: 2005.0228
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0228.098
objectType: label: Object Name
content: photograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 10 in; 20.32 cm x 25.4 cm