Overview
- The letter, signed by White House official Lindsey Halligan, orders eight Smithsonian museums to provide detailed inventories of exhibits, educational programming, grants, organizational charts and digital content.
- The initiative builds on a March executive order accusing the Smithsonian of promoting a “divisive, race-centered ideology” and directs materials to emphasize unity, progress and enduring American values.
- Institutions must file content submissions within 30 days and face a four-month window for applying mandated corrections ahead of Independence Day’s 250th anniversary.
- Smithsonian leadership has reiterated its academic independence and plans to review the letter’s requirements while advancing its “Our Shared Future: 250” anniversary program.
- Historians and cultural critics warn that federal oversight risks politicizing curatorial standards and undermining public trust in the nation’s premier museum network.