Sunday Service on Bikini Island
date: label: Date made
content: 1946
name: label: photographer
content: Mydans, Carl
notes: label: Description
content: After WWII, President Truman issued a directive to Armed Forces officials on the need to test their nuclear weapons and determine the effect of an atomic blast on American warships. Bikini Atoll was chosen to be the new nuclear proving ground for the U.S. government because of its location away from regular air and sea routes. Mydans was sent to the area to cover the story, which was published by <i>LIFE</i> (Mar 25, 1946).
label: Description
content: On a Sunday morning in 1946, Commodore Ben Wyatt met with the people of Bikini after church services had been held to explain the need for atomic testing on their island and the need for their consequent relocation. Bikini Atoll natives were strong Congregationalists, the legacy of conversion by New England missionaries. Although the missionaries had been gone for years, the natives held services with their own preacher. In this image, they can be seen engrossed in a religious service. Chief Juda spoke after reaching the decision to go to their new home on Rongerik: "We will go believing that everything is in the hands of God." On March 7, 1946, the natives left their island with hopes of someday returning home.
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
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content: Photography
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content: Carl Mydans
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0228.089
label: accession number
content: 2005.0228
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0228.089
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