Historians alarmed by White House plan to oversee Smithsonian exhibits

Historians and free speech advocates have begun to speak out to express their alarm at the White House’s announcement of a wide-ranging review of exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution’s museums and galleries.

The free expression group PEN America said it feared the review “will rewrite history and strip truth from exhibits,” while Sarah Weicksel, the executive director of the American Historical Association, described the Trump administration move as a “major overstep.”

Weicksel, who leads the country’s largest group of professional historians, said she had been hearing from some of its more than 10,000 members who said they have deep concerns.

“Only historians and trained museum professionals are qualified to conduct such a review, which is intended to ensure historical accuracy,” she said. “To suggest otherwise is an affront to the professional integrity of curators, historians, educators and everyone involved in the creation of solid, evidence-based content.”

The White House’s announced review is a challenge to the Smithsonian, which has traditionally operated as an independent institution and regards itself as being outside the control of the executive branch. It is governed by a 17-member Board of Regents that includes Democrats and Republicans and is overseen by Congress.

The White House said the review is aimed at portraying a more uplifting view of American history, but the administration has not specified who would be involved in evaluating the Smithsonian content. The White House did say the review would involve collaboration among museum staff, administration officials and personnel from other agencies.

Under the review, announced in a letter sent to Lonnie Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, the museums will be required to adjust any content that the administration finds problematic within 120 days, “replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions.”

Hadar Harris, managing director of PEN America’s Washington, D.C., office, said that curators and historians should be able to work without political interference.

“The ideas and presentation of history cannot be subject to the whims of a single leader or administration,” she said.

The Smithsonian, which operates a complex of 21 museums, plus libraries, research centers and the National Zoo, draws 62% of its more than $1 billion annual budget from congressional appropriation, federal grants and government contracts.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.