A heated hearing took place this week on Capitol Hill where lawmakers questioned the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution — the world’s largest museum complex — over claims that it has been pushing a biased and one-sided version of American history. Critics say the Smithsonian has moved away from simply preserving history and is now actively trying to reshape how Americans think about their country.

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Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told the panel that the Smithsonian is no longer just a museum — it has become a vehicle for promoting an agenda. He argued that taxpayers, who foot a $1.1 billion bill to fund the institution, deserve better than what they are currently getting.

From the Daily Signal:

“Teaching lessons about American wickedness is now the mission of the Smithsonian,” Gonzalez said during a hearing of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency. “It is the intent of the leadership, and it is precisely what they train the staff to do.”

“You need to clean house and relieve all Smithsonian leadership of their duties,” Gonzalez said.

“This is what Marxists do. I think that people who want to truly transform the country seize the cultural institutions in order to mold how people think, their own words,” Gonzalez said. “The leadership of the Smithsonian says constantly that he wants to use the museum to transform America, for societal transformation. They see history itself as a tool, an instrument, to change society. So, you only have to quote what they say they want to do.”

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig pushed back strongly, defending the museum as patriotic and nonpartisan.

Questions also arose about specific exhibits on display at the museum. Subcommittee Chairman Tim Burchett raised concerns about content he described as inappropriate for children, including images from an exhibit called “Girlhood (It’s Complicated).” Hartig clarified the exhibit was temporary, ran in 2020, and was not designed for children, noting that warning labels were posted at the entrance for parents.

Rep. Brandon Gill pressed Hartig on a toolkit called the “MASS Action Toolkit,” which described objectivity as a tool of white supremacy. Hartig said the museum did not develop the toolkit and denied promoting any ideology, though she acknowledged the Smithsonian had referenced it. Gonzalez later clarified that the toolkit served as a three-year road map used by Smithsonian staff to address race, class, and gender issues.

The hearing was sparked in part by a White House report titled “Saving America’s Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage.” The report raised serious concerns about whether the Smithsonian has drifted from its original mission of honoring and preserving American history into something far more politically driven.

Our history is worth protecting. The stories of who we are as a nation — our triumphs, our failures, and everything in between — belong to the American people, not to those with a political agenda. We pray that God would restore integrity and truth to our cultural institutions, that those entrusted with preserving our heritage would do so with honesty and humility, and that the next generation would grow up with a love for this country and a clear understanding of the values it was built upon. May truth always stand.

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(Excerpt from the Daily Signal. Photo Credit: Smithsonian Castle from National Mall/ Wikimedia Commons)