Bikini natives leaving for Rongerik
date: label: Date made
content: 1946-03
label: Date made
content: 1946
name: label: photographer
content: Mydans, Carl
notes: label: Description
content: After World War II, President Truman issued a directive for a joint U.S. Army-Navy test that would determine the effect of atomic bombs on American warships. Bikini Atoll was chosen to be the new nuclear proving ground for operation <i>Crossroads</i> because of its location away from regular air and sea routes. Mydans was sent to the island to document the exodus of the people of Bikini. The story was published by <i>LIFE</i> (Mar 25, 1946).
label: Description
content: On March 7, 1946, the island natives were relocated to Rongerik, the first of various temporary sites during their long exile from Bikini. The landing craft made a 100-mile trip overnight to the uninhabited, sparsely vegetated Rongerik Island. Shortly after arriving, the Bikini Islanders realized that they could not make a life on that island. Although the administration left food for several weeks, the natives soon discovered that the coconut trees and other local food crops produced few fruits, and the fish in the lagoon were inedible. Within two months, they began to beg U.S. officials to move them back to Bikini. Within two years, they were starving and needed to be relocated once more.
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
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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: 2005.0228.116
label: accession number
content: 2005.0228
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0228.116
objectType: label: Object Name
content: photograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 in x 11 in; 35.56 cm x 27.94 cm