None
EN
Citizen Historians Are Documenting The Smithsonian Before It Changes
['Elizabeth Blair', 'Georgetown University Professor Jim Millward']
ArtsJournal
Wary of changes under Trump, 'citizen historians' are documenting the Smithsoniantoggle caption Elizabeth Blair/NPREarly in his second term, President Trump issued an executive order that claimed the Smithsonian Institution promotes "narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive."
And in mid-August, Trump administration officials sent Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III a letter requiring a "comprehensive internal review" of eight Smithsonian museums including American History, American Art Museum, Natural History and Air & Space.
Now, historians and citizens concerned about the Trump administration's approach to, and involvement in, the Smithsonian have come together to document how the museums look today.
One, Georgetown University professor Jim Millward, said the Trump administration's pressure on the Smithsonian has him alarmed.
According to Millward, volunteers have so far uploaded more than 25,000 photographs and videos from Smithsonian museums to a temporary storage site.
['changes'
'volunteers'
'smithsonian'
'museum'
'signs'
'museums'
'citizen'
'history'
'american'
'documenting'
'trump'
'historians'
'wary'
'really']