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Cold
war brings chilly memories
Virginia
native Francis Gary Powers Sr. was one of the most controversial
figures of the Cold War. On May 1, 1960, working for
the CIA, Powers was shot down in the central Soviet
Union while taking high-altitude pictures of defense
facilities with his U-2 spy plane. After capture, he
spent 21 months in prison. The incident gave Soviet
Premier Nikita Khrushchev an excuse to cancel a critically
important summit meeting with U.S. President Dwight
Eisenhower, who had secretly authorized Powers’
mission. The U-2 incident dangerously ratcheted up nuclear
tensions.
Forty
years later, Powers’ son wants to make sure that
people know about the Cold War period that nearly cost
his father’s life. As the younger Powers grew up,
he realized he never had a chance to really get to know
who his father was, so he decided to research his father’s
history. “The more I researched my family, I knew
I had to research the U-2 incident. The more I researched
the U-2 incident, I knew I had to research the Cold
War” to really understand it all. Four years ago,
he founded the Cold War Museum, a mobile exhibit of
Cold War artifacts that travels to other museums around
the world.
Among
the items on exhibit are posters and photos, as well
as personal items of Powers’ father, who died in
1977, including his prison notebooks, survival knives
and a telegram from Eisenhower’s Secretary of State.
Powers’ personal favorite is a rug, made out of
burlap potato sack and dyed yarn that his father wove
while in prison. His father’s Latvian cellmate
taught him how to weave the rugs. The elder Powers made
a total of three, one of which is on display at the
National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
Currently,
several museums, including the Fort Meade Museum and
Historical Electronics Museum in Maryland, the SAC Museum,
Florida International Museum and the International Spy
Museum, are hosting some of the Cold War Museum’s
displays. The mobile exhibit is at the EAA in Oshkosh,
Wis., through March 2003.
Besides
the mobile exhibit, the museum is gaining fame by sponsoring
the Spies of Washington Tours. The Washington area has
long been a haven for espionage and intrigue, from the
cloak and dagger exploits of State Department official
Alger Hiss to FBI agent Robert Hanssen. The tours take
people to various drop sites used by alleged spies,
and guides share tales of conspiracies and espionage
associated with the city.
—
Leila Marija Ugincius
Return to Virginia Business - September
2002
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