Remembering the Atomic Bomb in its Birthplace, New Mexico

• Main Author: Lucie Genay
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: UMR 5136- France, Amériques, Espagne – Sociétés, Pouvoirs, Acteurs (FRAMESPA) 2017-01-01
• Series: Les Cahiers de Framespa
• Subjects: nuclear era; cold war; atomic laboratory; local memory; radioactivity
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/framespa/4366

On July 16, 1945 the « Land of Enchantment » acquired a new identity as the cradle of the nuclear age when the world’s first atomic bomb exploded in the Jornada del Muerto desert. New Mexico underwent a phenomenal transformation as a result of the arrival of atomic science in its remotest lands. The Trinity date does not hold the same place in collective memory as Hiroshima and Nagasaki but its historical significance takes various shapes on different memory scales. Therefore, this article addresses the meaningfulness of the bomb in national and local memories, focusing on the voices which contribute to the expression of its legacy and on the way this legacy is staged. A zooming motion from collective to individual perspectives emphasizes the authority of place on the construction of memory, and shows how the story of nuclear New Mexico exemplifies the interaction of world and local histories when most isolated populations and places get affected by incidents of an international range.