White House's review of Smithsonian content could reach into classrooms nationwide

“We don’t want a partisan history," said Matro, a teacher in Bethesda, Maryland. "We want the history that’s produced by real historians.”

Far beyond museums in Washington, President Donald Trump's review at the Smithsonian could influence how history is taught in classrooms around the country. The institution is a leading provider of curriculum and other educational materials, which are subject to the sweeping new assessment of all its public-facing content.

Trump is moving to bring the Smithsonian into alignment with his vision of American history. In a letter last month to the Smithsonian Institution, the White House said its review is meant to “assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals.” It’s part of Trump’s agenda to “celebrate American exceptionalism” by removing “divisive or partisan narratives,” it said.

Those opposed to the changes fear they will promote a more sanitized version of American history.

In celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary next year, the Education Department recently launched the White House's Founders Museum in partnership with PragerU, a conservative nonprofit that produces videos on politics and history. Visitors to the museum in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, as well as the White House website, can read biographies on the signers of the Declaration of Independence and watch videos that depict them speaking.

“Real patriotic education means that just as our founders loved and honored America, so we should honor them,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a PragerU video introducing the project.

The project mentions some signers favoring abolition and includes Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who became the first published Black female poet in the U.S. But critics say it brushes over some of the nation’s darker past.

“Those are the kinds of things that teachers are really leery of because they don't see partisanship in the sources that we're using as being good educational practice,” said Tina Ellsworth, president of the National Council for the Social Studies.

History teachers use supplemental resources over textbooks

Like many other history teachers, Matro said she turns to materials from the Smithsonian because she doesn't have the time to create lessons from scratch or the budget to buy the latest books. She favors the museum's digitized collections to guide her classes.

“I don’t have to figure out ‘is this real? Is this not real?’ I can trust the descriptions of the artifact,” she said.

More than 80% of history teachers report using free resources from federal museums, archives and institutions including the Smithsonian, according to an American Historical Association survey last year.

The federal institutions' materials have been widely trusted partly because they are thoroughly examined by professionals, said Brendan Gillis, the historical association's director of teaching and learning. Some teachers have out-of-date history textbooks, and online resources from institutions like the Smithsonian can fill the gaps, he said.

“That’s been one of the most influential and profoundly important ways that the federal government has invested in social studies education over the last couple of decades,” Gillis said.

While education always has been part of the Smithsonian's mission, developing materials specifically for classrooms became more prevalent after World War II, said William Walker, a State University of New York, Oneonta, professor who has researched the Smithsonian’s history. The museum organizes professional development workshops for teachers and offers materials ranging from worksheets to videos.

Russell Jeung, an Asian-American studies professor at San Francisco State University and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, took part in a Smithsonian video series in 2020 meant to educate high schoolers and adults on racism and discrimination against Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic and other points in American history.

Jeung said he expects the project will be shelved by the White House review.

“I think the story will be told,” Jeung said. “But the tragedy again and the loss is that we won’t get the national recognition that we deserve.”

In recent years, many states have passed laws adopting guidelines on how schools can address topics including racism, sexism and other topics. And professional groups say teachers will continue to adapt and find resources to put historical events in due context, regardless of what happens at the Smithsonian.

“Education is always political, so we know that as social studies teachers, it’s our job to navigate that terrain, which we do and we do well,” Ellsworth said.

Educators worry students will be turned off on history

Michael Heiman, a longtime social studies teacher in Juneau, Alaska, said he typically had his students do a scavenger hunt of artifacts in a virtual Smithsonian tour.

He said the exhibits always have been culturally inclusive and if that changes, he worries it would affect students of color he's taught, including Native American children. It could discourage them from pursuing careers in museum sciences or engaging with history at all, he said.

“We are further quieting voices that are important to our country,” Heiman said. “We are also restricting certain kids in those underrepresented populations to really understand more about their past.”

About a decade ago, graduate students of history professor Sam Redman at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, had the opportunity to collaborate with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History for a blog series commemorating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The exercise connected objects in the Smithsonian collection to the civil rights law. The experience for his students was “really incredible,” he said.

Each year, he’s heard students say they want to get a job in the federal government or work at the Smithsonian after graduation. But not this year. Redman said he hasn’t heard a single student express interest.

“This is a pressing concern, no doubt about it,” he said.

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