The Interior Department plans to install 12 temporary signs outside the National Museum of American History warning visitors about what the Trump administration says are ideological interpretations in museum exhibits, a position the museum’s director disputes.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Trump administration is proceeding with plans to place 12 temporary signs outside the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, warning visitors about what administration officials contend are inaccurate and ideologically driven presentations of the nation’s past.
The signs are expected to cost a combined $84,000, according to Interior Department letters sent to two U.S. senators and reported Wednesday by The New York Times.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum described the administration’s rationale in a Sept. 3 letter to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, saying visitors should be given additional context before entering the museum.
Americans should enter the museum “with relevant information about the curators’ interpretation of history and their stated goal of changing the viewpoints of visitors,” Burgum’s letter said.
A copy of the letter was also sent to Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
The Interior Department accused museum officials and Smithsonian leadership of moving beyond what the administration considers the institution’s proper historical role.
They “have altered the museum’s role from accurately and coherently telling America’s story to using the museum as a tool to advance personal, radical ideologies,” the letter said.
The department also said the planned signage would address exhibits involving sex and gender, arguing that the warnings should “ensure parents bringing young children to the museum are equipped to protect the well-being of their children” when encountering exhibits that “present ideological viewpoints inconsistent with biology.”
Burgum’s letter also directed criticism at Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, who announced his resignation last week.
“Visitors should be aware of Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch’s history of invidious discrimination and anti-white animus,” the letter said.
The proposed warnings stem from President Donald Trump’s July 24 executive order, which directed the Interior secretary, working through the National Park Service and in coordination with the White House Domestic Policy Council, to install temporary signs on National Park Service-maintained sidewalks and walkways used to reach the museum.
Under the order, the signage “shall notify visitors that the Museum exhibits should be renovated consistent with the findings in the Report and direct visitors to locations and resources for accurate information regarding America’s history.”
Trump’s order followed a Domestic Policy Council review of the Smithsonian and National Museum of American History. The administration said the resulting report “overwhelmingly demonstrates that current leadership of both the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum cannot be trusted to tell America’s story with honesty and gratitude.”
The executive order established it as administration policy to pursue available measures to address issues identified by that review and what the White House described as an effort to restore public trust in the Smithsonian. It specifically instructed the Interior Department to use National Park Service property surrounding the museum for the temporary warnings.
National Museum of American History Director Anthea M. Hartig has rejected the White House’s characterization of the museum’s work.
During two congressional hearings, Hartig said the administration’s report “does not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum,” while adding that “there is always room for improvement.”
Hartig also defended the practice of expanding historical narratives to incorporate material that may not have been emphasized in earlier presentations.
“When historians talk about reframing a traditional narrative, we don’t mean erasing it,” Hartig said. “We mean adding the evidence, the voices, the objects that earlier tellings left out so that more Americans can see themselves reflected in the national story.”
The planned signs represent the administration’s latest step in carrying out Trump’s directive that visitors be alerted to its objections to the museum’s presentation of American history before entering the institution.
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