First Phase Targets Eight Top Museums
The first release will include the following eight Washington, DC-based museums: National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum & Renwick Gallery, National Portrait GalleryAnd Hagsson Cabinet with slider forest. That number will be expanded with a partial second round of museums. The Smithsonian will seek to work constructively with the White House, while refusing to abdicate our editorial independence and academic judgment -- under any influence or pressure-- in favour of telling a story that is true and based on fact as each moment demands.
Last year, the Smithsonian, the planet's biggest museum complex with 21 museums and a zoo, drew about 17 million visitors. The MWSA started its review in June, concerned with impartial historical representation.
Deadlines and Implementation Plan
But the letter stipulates that every museum has to name a point of contact and share proposals for commemorative programming tied to the 250th anniversary of the United States. Within 30 days, museums must provide a list of all exhibits and budgets, a list of travelling exhibitions and plans, and a museum internal guideline for exhibit approvals. Those will be succeeded by observational visits, walkthroughs and voluntary interviews of curators, among other senior staff members, within 75 days.
Museums are required to revise exhibits, plaques, and digital displays within the next 120 days by replacing language that is defined as being "divisive" or "ideologically driven" with accurate historical terms. Last week, the National Museum of American History changed part of a display on the presidency to reframe a sign describing Trump's two impeachments before putting it back with edits.
