White House Report Targets Smithsonian Director 230 Times Over 'Radical Activist Ideology'
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 7
White House Report Targets Smithsonian Director 230 Times Over 'Radical Activist Ideology'
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 7
Summary
Anthea Hartig was singled out nearly 230 times in a White House Domestic Policy Council report that accused the Smithsonian leader of "extreme political activism."
The report says the National Museum of American History downplayed the founders, undermined faith in U.S. institutions and treated history as a "prime tool of social justice."
Hartig, who has led the museum since 2019, has backed exhibitions centered on ordinary Americans, including themes of race, sexuality and colonialism rather than only presidential achievements.
The 160-page document, released on the nation's 250th anniversary, extends the administration's broader push to challenge what it calls ideological capture at the Smithsonian.
Many historians defended Hartig's approach, arguing that a fuller American story requires nuance, contradiction and the experiences of groups long left out.