The Smithsonian, according to former senior historian and curator David C. Ward, is “the greatest museum in the world.” That’s why he sees the massive changes sought by the Trump administration as “demoralizing” and “farcical.”
“The Smithsonian doesn’t need to be made great again. The Smithsonian is great,” said Ward, who spent more than four decades at the institution and primarily worked at the National Portrait Gallery. “It’s a complex of museums that does everything from astrophysics at Harvard to tropical diseases and plants in Panama to the portrait gallery to the newer museums. It’s a stupendous representation of American culture.”
Ward is one of a growing group of historians decrying President Donald Trump’s increasing attacks on the institution. In a letter sent to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch last month, Trump announced a review of the museums ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.
“Museums should begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials,” the letter, posted to the White House’s website, read.
The letter followed a March executive order which threatened the prohibition of “expenditure on exhibits or programs” which “degrade shared American values” or “divide Americans based on race.” Particularly, the order noted the forthcoming American Women’s History Museum should not “recognize men as women in any respect.”
In addition to the official actions, Trump has spoken publicly on the issues he believes the Smithsonian has, including when he said the museum is too focused on “how bad slavery was.” In May, he attempted to fire National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet, though it was unclear whether he had the authority to do so. She later stepped down.
“As President Trump promised, the Trump Administration is committed to rooting out Woke and divisive ideology in our government and institutions. Taxpayer money should not be used for things that pit Americans against one another. Our Smithsonian should exhibit history in an accurate, honest, and factual way” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement.
In July, prominent artist Amy Sherald pulled her upcoming exhibit from the National Portrait Gallery after she claimed the museum considered removing a painting depicting a transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty. The museum denied Sherald’s claims, but the White House appeared to celebrate her decision.
“The Statue of Liberty is not an abstract canvas for political expression — it is a revered and solemn symbol of freedom, inspiration, and national unity that defines the American spirit,” White House special assistant to the president Lindsey Halligan, whom Trump has charged with helping lead his review of the Smithsonian, said in a statement at the time.
Spencer Crew, the former director of the National Museum of American History — one of the museums on the list for review by the White House — said the administration’s efforts are “unfortunate” and feel “a bit like censorship.”
Crew, who worked at the Smithsonian for 20 years, emphasized he always felt like the work done by the Smithsonian’s employees were based on “sound scholarship.”
“I think the goal always is to make sure the exhibits they do are based on the best scholarship and, in creating them, work with experts in the field so they can try to make sure the information they present is based in the latest scholarship and coming from those people who are doing the research,” he said.
The American Alliance of Museums, a group that advocates for “equitable and impactful” museums, warned in a statement that “growing threats” of censorship could create a “chilling effect” for “the entire museum sector.”
“Freedom of thought and expression are foundational American values, and museums uphold them by creating spaces where people can engage with history, science, art, and culture in ways that are honest, fact-based, and thought-provoking,” the statement read.
In a poll of 1,220 self-identified registered voters released Wednesday by Quinnnipiac University, 60 percent said they opposed the Trump administration’s review of the Smithsonian. The balance of 33 percent said they support it.
Ward said there are historical events in America’s past that should be “questioned” or “reevaluated.” But, he said, it’s “impossible” to visit Smithsonian museums and “not be inspired by what we’ve done as a country.”
“If all you want to do is have a static view on what America is — the kind of enshrinement and symbols of American history and democracy — and that never changes, you’re not going to want to go to the Smithsonian, because the Smithsonian is the complete variety of American history, and it’s going to be disorienting to you,” Ward said. “What I would always hope was you come to the Smithsonian and you learn that things are not always as they were in the past.”
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