Smithsonian head disputes White House report in memo to staff

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III issued a defense of the National Museum of American History to staffers on Tuesday, in response to a caustic White House report accusing the museum of pushing “extreme political activism.”

In an email obtained by the Washington Post, Bunch wrote to staffers that “we continue to review the report and its findings carefully” and that “there will always be room for improvement.”

But the report “is not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History,” he added. “At the Smithsonian, our work is driven by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America’s story.”

The 162-page document was released by the White House on Saturday. It largely focused on the American history museum and criticized its leadership as having “explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.”

The Smithsonian Institution has offered little public defense since the report was released. On Sunday, a spokesperson said in a statement, “For more than 180 years, the Smithsonian has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship, and we remain committed to doing so.”

The Smithsonian referred to that statement when asked for comment Wednesday.

In the email Tuesday, Bunch praised and thanked staff across the museums, writing, “As public servants and the keepers of this institution, we are charged with helping a nation find understanding, hope, and clarity and as part of that duty, we are dedicated to excellence, reflection, and growth.”

He said the institution remains committed to “scholarship, nonpartisanship, independence, accuracy, and integrity.”

The Organization of American Historians condemned the White House’s report in a statement Monday as “part of an ongoing and multi-pronged assault by the Trump administration against accurate and evidence-based history in American public life.”