The Trump Administration continues to pressure the Smithsonian in its year-and-a-half campaign to change how American history is told. Over the Summer, the administration had announced that the National Park Service would post signs around the National Museum of American History in Washington claiming that the museum is lying in its presentations on our history. With the deposing of Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, many people had forgotten about that these “lying signs” were even promised. However, this week The Atlantic Magazine says that this new attack on the Smithsonian is about to go into effect. Reporter Kelsey Ables writes that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has written a letter sketching out the new signs. The letter went to Senator Jeff Merkley who had asked about the signage. Burgum says that the text on the signs is not finalized, but it says that they will focus on what “visitors should know” before entering the museum.
The Smithsonian is not administered by the Executive Branch, so the president cannot simply order its staff to change its exhibits. However, the president can use his “bully pulpit” to discredit the Smithsonian, reduce financial support for it, and marginalize the museums.
According to Burgum’s letter, “The informational signage therefore will provide visitors with important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance.” The letter says that the Smithsonian’s staff have “ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story…This may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become Necessary.”
Approximately a dozen signs will be placed around the National Museum of American History by the National Park Service (NPS), which is part of the Interior Department and under the control of Doug Burgum. Using the National Park Service in this capacity means that Burgum will be pitting one of the agencies most charged with protecting our past, the NPS, against another, the Smithsonian. Both institutions will see a decline in public respect out of this, which may be the ultimate goal.
The Burgum’s letter says that the signs will focus on “Secretary Lonnie Bunch’s history of invidious discrimination and anti-white animus,” as well as denouncing Anthea Hartig, the director of the history museum. Burgum writes that “visitors should be informed about Director Hartig’s and other Smithsonian leaders’ history of racial focus.”
The Trump Administration has denounced the Smithsonian for telling the story of slavery and Jim Crow, for including Transgender Americans, and Latino immigrants in its exhibits.
Most Americans don’t support the attack on the Smithsonian. Please call your senators and Congressperson to support the museum. Here is what historian David Blight said in response to the attacks.
Note: The feature photo is of the Star Spangled Banner at the Smithsonian.
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