When a people forgets where they came from, they forget who they are. But America’s largest institution charged with preserving and sharing our history has been captured by an anti-American ideology that is lying to busloads of school children and international tourists for the sake of a corrosive political agenda. Now that it’s all finally being exposed, it is critical that it be restored to its founding purpose.
Founded by the government in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution was meant to be an “establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men,” written in the will of its namesake donor, James Smithson. To that end, the Smithsonian now oversees 21 museums, 21 libraries, 14 education and research centers, and even a zoo. Many of those museums (and the zoo) are a highlight of any trip to Washington, D.C., because, unlike similar establishments across the country, they are free thanks to the $1 billion in taxpayer funding it receives each year. So, it is reasonable for Americans to expect that these museums are, in fact, increasing and sharing knowledge about science, innovation, and, most importantly, our own nation’s history, without political biases.
But for many years, that is not what has been happening, particularly at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. When this particular installment in the Smithsonian’s collection was approved by Congress in the 1950s, its stated goal was “[t]o place before millions who visit the Nation’s Capital each year a stimulating permanent exposition that commemorates our heritage of freedom and highlights the basic elements of our way of life.” President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his speech inaugurating the museum, expressed his hope that “there will come to this building the children of the nation. For here is recorded … the agony and the sweat of the human spirit, the victory of freedom and genius of our country.” In short, this museum was meant to be a celebration of America’s roots and all it has accomplished.
On July 4th of this year, America’s 250th birthday, the White House published a lengthy report exposing just how the American History museum is anything but a source of patriotism. At the largest museum dedicated to the nation’s history, there is not a single exhibit dedicated to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, other Founders, or any of the critical events of the American Revolution. Bejamin Franklin is only named through his connection to slavery, with one exhibit claiming that he “chose to take advantage of that system [slavery]” to make his many scientific accomplishments. Alexander Hamilton is mentioned only in connection to the Broadway musical named after him, which is about “an influential and flawed founding father.”
The role of Christianity to the Founding is reduced to being a tool for conquest and cultural erasure, not the fundamental belief system that inspired the very idea of all men being created equal. The Christian Pilgrims are framed not as voyagers fleeing religious persecution, but as colonizers. And the first Thanksgiving, held to celebrate God’s provision and the Pilgrims’ partnership with the Wampanoag tribe, is reframed as a “National Day of Mourning.”
Not only does the museum not tell America’s story accurately, but it also uses its platform to push radical ideology. In the museum’s Girlhood exhibit, the singular example of a girl is Jazz Jennings, a male who “transitioned” to female as a child. The goal of the exhibit is to teach that gender is fluid, and that the fight for equality throughout American history includes the rights of those who do not “conform” to normal (i.e., biologically accurate) gender stereotypes. There’s also an exhibit on “trans non-binary” skateboarder Leo Baker, which features the chest binder that she wore to make herself appear more masculine. Another display, called “Not Checking the Boxes,” teaches that “sometimes, gender isn’t revealed at birth,” and that it is a deeply felt inner sense of one’s identity rather than something based on biology.
Where the museum should be celebrating the accomplishments of American women and girls, it is instead teaching that young girls should view themselves as foot soldiers in a “long legacy of activism.” It does this through exhibits that portray homemaking as oppressive, interactive prompts designed to promote “bodily autonomy” (i.e. the so-called right to abortion), and educational materials that promote defying parents and other authority figures in the name of breaking from America’s “oppressive” past.
But this is not new behavior from the Smithsonian, nor is it isolated to the American History Museum. When the African American History Museum first opened in 2016, many people pointed out the glaring exclusion of Clarence Thomas, one of only two African Americans to serve on the Supreme Court. In 2020, the Museum unveiled a chart titled “Aspects and Assumptions of Whiteness in the United States.” On that chart, hard work, punctuality, objective thinking, and valuing the nuclear family were all listed as characteristics of “whiteness.”
The National Museum of the American Indian frames America’s founding as fundamentally oppressive. The Nation to Nation exhibit’s introductory video begins by stating that the story of the U.S. and Native American Indian nations is a story about “the rise of a new great nation at the sacrifice of hundreds of others.”
None of this comes as a surprise when we look at statements made by one of the Smithsonian’s top officials, the Director of the American History Museum, Dr. Anthea Hartig. She has explicitly stated that she sees history as a “prime tool for social justice,” and that “we work to reframe the traditional celebratory narrative of U.S. history for visitors.”
It makes sense that someone who can so blatantly rewrite the story of America would have no qualms about lying to Congress. In July, Dr. Hartig appeared before two separate House committees to answer questions about the misinformation and blatant ideological propaganda being peddled by the taxpayer-funded museums. At one point, she was asked about the Girlhood exhibit, the one that features a female-identifying male child, and the pages of a six-year old’s diary with entries that expressed her fear of “getting boobs” and wishing for her nonexistent “penis to grow.” Dr. Hartig claimed that this exhibit was not designed for children. However, in a video announcing the launch of the exhibit, Dr. Hartig welcomes “boys and girls” to visit.
Those who hate the values that America represents understand that the most effective way to wage war on those values is to teach the next generation that they are evil and not worthy of defending. That’s why what is happening at the Smithsonian matters – every generation has an obligation to teach the one that follows why America has been a great force for good in world history.
To that end, President Trump signed an executive order to remove race- and gender-based ideological content from federal historical institutions, such as the Smithsonian. Sen. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) has introduced the Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History Act, which would codify that executive order. And in response to the report on the American History Museum, the White House has ordered that temporary signage be placed pointing out the inaccuracies of many of the museum’s exhibits.
At a time when communist and Islamist ideologies are taking root in America, we need institutions like the Smithsonian engaged in the battle against lies, rather than waging its own war against the truth.
