{"id":2627862,"date":"2026-07-10T08:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T12:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-top-reasons-the-smithsonian-american-history-museum-is-a-national-disgrace\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T08:39:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T12:39:27","slug":"5-top-reasons-the-smithsonian-american-history-museum-is-a-national-disgrace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-top-reasons-the-smithsonian-american-history-museum-is-a-national-disgrace\/","title":{"rendered":"The Smithsonian American History Museum Is A National Disgrace"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F5-top-reasons-the-smithsonian-american-history-museum-is-a-national-disgrace%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2627862&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses a critical report blaming the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s National Museum of American History for failing in it&#8217;s mission to foster respect for the American story. Key concerns include the museum\u2019s alleged villainization of America\u2019s founding and founders, with little emphasis on major revolutionary War events or patriotic narratives, instead framing certain aspects like Thanksgiving historically negatively and emphasizing 1619 over 1776.The report also criticizes the museum for portraying Christianity unfavorably, emphasizing its role in oppression rather than its contributions to American values and history.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the museum is accused of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cornell-professor-invents-critical-race-theory-watchdog-site\/\" title=\"Cornell Professor Invents Critical Race Theory Watchdog Site\">promoting critical race theory<\/a> and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that emphasize race-based programming, support for land transfers to indigenous peoples, and a narrative asserting America\u2019s systemic racism. It is indeed also suggested that the museum undermines Western civilization, portraying it as rooted in white supremacy and dismissing its contributions to human progress.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, the museum\u2019s party of america\u2019s 250th anniversary is described as superficial, focusing on identity politics and social issues rather than America\u2019s foundational history. The article argues that restoring the museum\u2019s mission would require a comprehensive overhaul of leadership, exhibits, and programming to restore patriotic education and pride in American history.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Warning! If you plan on visiting the nation\u2019s capital this summer, skip the American History Museum. According to a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Smithsonian-Report-Saving-Americas-Story.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> by the Domestic Policy Council, the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s National Museum of American History has failed in its fundamental mission \u2014 to instill in visitors a deeper respect for the American story.<\/p>\n<p>Below are the five most disturbing things about the Smithsonian\u2019s American History Museum, according to the report.<\/p>\n<h2>1. <strong>Villainizing Our Founding and Founding Fathers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re going to the museum to learn about history, best go elsewhere. Sorely lacking are exhibits dedicated to the Pilgrims or Puritans, or to major events in the Revolutionary War, such as Washington\u2019s crossing, the Continental Congress, or the Constitutional Convention. This follows the museum administration\u2019s stated goal to \u201ctransform the national historical narrative\u201d away from America\u2019s Founding and Founders. In this, they succeeded. The museum is nearly devoid of \u2026 well, American history.<\/p>\n<p>With 200,000 square feet of exhibition space, it is unforgivable that the museum dedicated to American history so fully neglects to give the American Founding the time and space it deserves. Instead, it vilifies America\u2019s founding stories, calling the Pilgrims colonizers, reframing Thanksgiving as a \u201cNational Day of Mourning,\u201d and embracing 1619 as our true founding instead of 1776.<\/p>\n<p>The museum refuses to tell the patriotic narrative of American history. According to the report, there were no planned displays dedicated to George Washington or Thomas Jefferson for America\u2019s 250th anniversary. Both Washington and Jefferson were given a cursory mention in one display, but it only noted that both were presidents and that they have been used to \u201cinstill patriotic values.\u201d Washington\u2019s pivotal role in the American Revolution, both Continental Congresses, the Constitutional Convention, or his presidency are absent. Additionally, it ignores Jefferson\u2019s role in writing the Declaration of Independence, his contributions to religious freedom, his Founding of the University of Virginia, and his presidency.<\/p>\n<p>While the museum focuses on how many of the founders owned slaves, it ignores all of the founders who worked to end slavery.<\/p>\n<p>It is no surprise that the museum endorsed the American Association for State and Local History\u2019s Reframing History project, which argues that teaching about the Founding Fathers perpetuates dominant groups\u2019 power and reinforces white supremacist logic.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>2. Bashing Christianity<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>According to the report, the museum portrays Christianity as an instrument of \u201cconquest, exclusion, or cultural erasure\u201d while ignoring the role Christianity played in shaping the Founders\u2019 thinking on freedom and equality.<\/p>\n<p>On top of this, the museum refuses to give Christianity any credit for the abolitionist and civil rights movements or for its contributions to classical liberal thought, which led to the widespread adoption of democracy as a form of government. Instead, the museum vilifies Christianity as a tool and motivator for oppression. For example, in the museum\u2019s Aspects and Assumptions of Whiteness infographic, the museum claims that treating Christianity as the norm and celebrating Christian holidays are aspects of white culture that need to be dismantled.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>3. Pushing Critical Race Theory and DEI<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >museum prioritized race-based hiring<\/a> and special programming for both non-residents and non-English speakers. Museum leadership also complained that centering history curriculum in K-12 schools around white people is dangerous and instead chose to use the Southern Poverty Law Center\u2019s (SPLC) educational programming, an organization we now know sent funds to the KKK and other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-biden-help-unite-america\/\" title=\"Can Biden Help Unite America?\">white supremacist groups<\/a>. Among other things, the SPLC provided a toolkit entitled \u201cConfronting White Nationalism in Schools.\u201d The museum also openly supported the idea of transferring American land to indigenous peoples and claimed that even the museum itself is tied to systemic whiteness and is an imperial structure.<\/p>\n<p>This statement makes it clear. The museum has shifted from its mission to tell the American story and is now forcing a national \u201creckoning\u201d down the throats of its visitors. It is no longer dedicated to historical accuracy, but to pushing the message that America is and always has been racist. As Director Anthea Hartig stated publicly, history for her is a \u201cprime tool of social justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>4. Undermining the Importance of Western Civilization<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The museum consistently pushes anti-Western civilization propaganda, claiming Western culture is built on white supremacy. Western Civilization is built on the ideas of law and order, the rationality of humans, free inquiry, the scientific method, individual liberty, and the inherent dignity of human beings. Evolving out of the combined traditions of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy and Judeo-Christian writings and practices, Western Civilization has shaped 2,000 years of history. It led to the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the American Founding. Western Civilization also produced Homer, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Michelangelo, Vincent Van Gogh, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla, to name a few of its giants. Dismissing Western Civilization would also be to dismiss the accomplishments of these giants.<\/p>\n<p>In an attempt to undermine Western Civilization, the museum teaches that there is no single American culture, language, or narrative. Dr. Orlando R. Serrano, Jr., the current \u201cHead of PreK-12 Learning,\u201d criticized the logic of Western Civilization because it prioritizes concepts such as \u201corder, organization, and taxonomy.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>5. Refusing to Celebrate America\u2019s 250th anniversary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Instead of celebrating what our Founding Fathers accomplished 250 years ago, the museum chose to have an exhibit titled Entertainment Nation, which argued that P.T. Barnum\u2019s circus symbols reflect concerns about white supremacy, Mickey Mouse represents vestiges of blackface, and then went on to feature LGBTQ entertainers. This makes sense once you realize that under the current museum leadership, all exhibits must be tied back to identity politics, radical environmentalism, economic inequality, immigration, technological change, or nationalism and globalism, according to the museum\u2019s interpretive plan.<\/p>\n<p>When Director Hartig took over, she even had the museum\u2019s mission statement rewritten, changing \u201cwe explore the infinite richness and complexity of American history\u201d to \u201cexploring, preserving, and sharing the complexity of our past.\u201d Deleting the phrase \u201cinfinite richness\u201d to describe American history and removing \u201cAmerican history\u201d altogether demonstrate outright hostility towards our nation and its past.  <\/p>\n<p>The museum did have one exhibit dedicated to America\u2019s 250th anniversary, but the objects focused on actual American history stayed in their normal locations, while a monarch butterfly representing migration and its immigration farm worker statue of liberty were given prominent places. The exhibit completely failed to address the true impact of the Declaration, the Revolutionary War, or the Founding of the country. Instead, it highlighted a framed photo of a drag queen.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Getting the Museum Back on Track<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>What this museum has become is a true tragedy for our country. Our country\u2019s only national American history museum should serve as a source of patriotism and pride. It should be a place for Americans to go and learn to love their country and discover how we have grown and improved. Instead, the museum has a display questioning whether schools should teach patriotic values at all.<\/p>\n<p>The first step in fixing a problem is to identify it, which this report has done. Unfortunately, getting this museum back on track with its original mission will require a complete overhaul of its leadership, staff, most exhibits, major programs, and mission statement. Once this is done, the museum can develop displays that once again provide an education in the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, inspire patriotism, and celebrate the American story. Then it will once again be worth visiting.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Krystina Skurk is a research assistant at Hillsdale College in D.C. She received a Master&#8217;s degree in politics from the Van Andel School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College. She is a former fellow of the John Jay Institute, a graduate of Regent University, and a former teacher at Archway Cicero, a Great Hearts charter school.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warning! 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