truth and sanity?
it is a five-alarm fire
for public history

In the article, “‘It reminds you of a fascist state’: Smithsonian Institution braces for Trump rewrite of US history” by David Smith in the Guardian, Mr. Smith writes:

Visitors have come in their millions to the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s biggest museum, education and research complex, in Washington for the past 178 years. On Thursday, Donald Trump arrived with his cultural wrecking ball.

The US president, who has sought to root out “wokeness” since returning to power in January, accused the Smithsonian of trying to rewrite history on issues of race and gender. In an executive order entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”, he directed the removal of “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from its storied museums.

The move was met with dismay from historians who saw it as an attempt to whitewash the past and suppress discussions of systemic racism and social justice. With Trump having also taken over the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, there are fears that, in authoritarian fashion, he is aiming to control the future by controlling the past.

“It is a five-alarm fire for public history, science and education in America,” said Samuel Redman, a history professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “While the Smithsonian has faced crisis moments in the past, it has not been directly attacked in quite this way by the executive branch in its long history. It’s troubling and quite scary.”

I have had a long association with the Smithsonian Institution.

For several years when I was a kid growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, our family spring break trip was to visit an older brother who had married and moved to the Washington, DC area.

One of the benefits of my brother’s location was that we made regular tours of Washington and the Smithsonsian.

About the same time, my Dad started subscribing to the Smithsonian Magazine so when we visited the Smithsonian, I felt like we were part of the inner circle.

One time, with all the things to see in Washington, I made us walk over to the Smithsonian ‘Castle’ on the Mall to see James Smithson’s tomb.

We toured them all.

The Museum of American History, where I once through up (though I kept things under control as my Dad led me up an escalator to the nearest men’s room).

The Natural History Museum with the green dome.

The National Gallery of Art with the White Dome.

The OLD exhibition Building.

The NEW Air and Space Museum.

The New Hirschhorn Museum of Modern Art.

One year we arrived just as the first Moon rock went on display and

I remember sitting in the cafeteria in the basement of the Museum of American History and looking out over a sculpture by Alexander Calder and thinking that Grand Rapids also had a Calder and wondering how in the world the Smithsonian was able to get one.

Later in life, I applied for a job at the Smithsonian and had an interview at the Museum of American History.

I was walking down the Mall in Washington, DC with AN APPOINTMENT!

I was offered a two year job and I TURNED IT DOWN saying, I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING IN THE CAREER LINE!

In my head and in my heart the Smithsonian has also been there as something special about the United States.

The place that resulted when Mr. Smithson left his fortune to the United States to create an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men.

I am not sure but I am betting that for 200 years no one has said anything about the mission of the Smithsonian beyond that until recently when the current president issued his Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History order.

I don’t dare say, what will that guy do next.

I don’t want to know.

I it seems so perfect for April’s Fool except no one is fooling.