This week, the White House notified Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, that it would be conducting an immediate review of eight of the Smithsonian’s 21 institutions to ensure “alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions” as expressed in the Executive Order 14253, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.
As ACLS President Joy Connolly writes:
“The letter’s warning that the museums must tell “uplifting” stories about America that are also “inclusive” and in alignment with American ideals is nonsense. History is not a Hallmark card. The way to tell the true American story is to provide as many broad and diverse and expertly researched stories as we can. What is truly uplifting about the Smithsonian is not the material in its exhibits. What uplifts us is its existence as a collective of experts committed to the advancement of the public’s understanding, maintained by taxpayers, because we believe in investing in the advancement of knowledge. What uplifts us is our hope in our capacity to confront the truth and learn from it together.
Read the full letter from Joy Connolly.