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REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN STORY:
In 1862, Secretary Joseph Henry refused to let the great orator Frederick Douglass speak at Smithsonian because of his skin color. Henry did believe in documenting American Indian culture, but mainly because he thought it would "disappear." Smithsonian curators also refused to collect material on women's suffrage, only relenting with the passage of the 19th Amendment. In the 1960s -- responding to mounting criticism -- the Smithsonian began to be more inclusive, establishing the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Anacostia Community Museum.
There was, and still is, much progress to be made. Congressman John Lewis' annual appeal to create an African American museum was repeatedly rejected by Congress until 2003, when bipartisan legislation for its establishment passed at last. The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened to critical acclaim in 2016. Its founding director, Lonnie G. Bunch III, now serves as the Smithsonian's first African American Secretary.
Other inclusive milestones include the creation and expansion of the Smithsonian Latino Center and Asian Pacific American Center, and collections documenting gay and lesbian culture, the history of disability, and women's history. "Cultural institutions," says Secretary Bunch, "have to be as much about today and tomorrow as they are about yesterday." |