The Smithsonian was the recipient of a new presidential action, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, on March 27, 2025.  The executive order proclaims:

“Under this historical revision, our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.  Rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame, disregarding the progress America has made and the ideals that continue to inspire millions around the globe.”

In addition, the order will:

1. i)   prohibit expenditure on exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy; and

(ii)  celebrate the achievements of women in the American Women’s History Museum and do not recognize men as women in any respect in the museum.

WHAT IS THE SMITHSONIAN?

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, containing 17 free DC-area museums and a zoo, as well as two in New York City, one of which charges admission.

Established by an act of Congress in 1846, the institution has operated independently as a public-private partnership. Approximately sixty-two percent of its annual budget is paid for by federal money.

HOW DOES THE SMITHSONIAN EXPLAIN HISTORY?

My most recent visit to the Smithsonian was in 2022. When telling the history of the relationship between Native Americans and the Whites who drove them from their homes, the National Museum of the American Indian’s interpretation gave both the Native American and the White expansionists’ perspectives of the historical record.

At the National Air and Space Museum, the exhibit included female and minority participation.

This perspective is in keeping with the Smithsonian’s decision to include a more inclusive and diverse accounting of our Nation’s history.

HAVE THERE BEEN OTHER FLAPS AT THE SMITHSONIAN?

The museum began planning for the Enola Gay exhibition to encourage the public to re-examine the WWII atomic bombings, taking into account political and military factors which led to using the atomic bombs, the suffering caused to the Japanese civilians, and its long-term implications.

The first interpretive script, completed in early 1994, was over three hundred pages filled with text and illustrations, including “The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”. By 1995, Political pressure became so intense that the interpretation of the exhibit was canceled.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHITEWASHING THE SMITHSONIAN?

By doing so, we are following in the tradition of the Soviet Communists (Stalin believed in people disappearing and censorship), the Nazis (Reich Minister Joesph Goebbels destroyed 1/3 of Germany’s library collection on May 10, 1933), and China is removing documentation from school books that Hong Kong was once a British Colony.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE SMITHSONIAN

Trump’s order states all properties should “focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.”

Are we to pretend that slavery never happened or that the Trail of Tears is a figment of our imagination? Are we supposed to ignore original documents and letters detailing these events? Will the new women’s museum leave out the fact that gaining the right to vote took over seventy years?

I’ll leave you with a final thought from George Orwell’s book, 1984. “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

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