The Smithsonian’s 250th failure

OPINION:

We are two months away from the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — a paramount event worthy of celebration. Sadly, the Smithsonian Institution is reluctant to honor American history, and “honor” is the operative word.

The Institution’s National Museum of American History would be an ideal place for such a celebration, and one could argue that if we are going to have identity-based history museums — two already exist for African Americans and Indians, and more are upcoming for Latinos and women — they, too, should mark the milestone.

But these museums most certainly do not celebrate history. Rather, they rewrite it.

Surely the planned 2026 exhibitions will seek to correct this grave omission?

Unfortunately, not. According to the Smithsonian’s website, the institution seeks to “celebrate” the semiquincentennial with a campaign announced as “Our Shared Future: 250.”

In typical Smithsonian fashion, the framing of the initiative places greater emphasis on the ways in which “diverse communities” can “find a common purpose.” What they seem to blissfully ignore is that the last 250 years have done just that.

Americans from all different backgrounds worked together to build the inheritance that we now possess. Instead of grounding that unity in a shared past, the Smithsonian shifts attention toward an abstract, future-oriented identity — one detached from the historical foundations that made such unity possible.  

For decades, leftists have captured our cultural institutions, like the Smithsonian, and used them to indoctrinate the public with such beliefs. They preach that diversity, not unity, is our strength. And in doing so, they redefine unity itself as not a product of shared values, but as the outcome of activism and resistance.

According to the campaign’s messaging, they want visitors to “contemplate the consequences of history” and the “complexity of this country,” implying what all Smithsonian museums make explicit: American history must be forgotten and rewritten. Their choice of words like “consequences” and “complexity” demonstrates their intent to replace clarity about the nation’s founding with ambiguity, skepticism, and moral relativism.

Celebrating a “shared future” by itself minimizes our shared past. And by removing the founding from the spotlight, the Smithsonian weakens the continuity of American identity across generations.

Only a few Smithsonian museums likely will even have a special 250th exhibit.  

As a part of this initiative, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will mark the anniversary by opening “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness,” a selection of 250 artifacts arranged around the museum.  

But 174 of the 250 have already been on display in the museum. So this hardly feels like a new exhibition. 

Worse, the objects will not receive a dedicated exhibition hall; they will be placed around the museum, and visitors will be able to use a “commemorative guidebook” to find them throughout the building.

That’s one way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday — an unofficial scavenger hunt that is far from obvious in its supposed commemoration of the country.

Beyond the scattering of 250 objects, the museum’s website announces excitedly that another part of their 250th celebration is the gunboat Philadelphia. Yet the Philadelphia has been on display in the museum since 1964.  

It seems as though the Smithsonian closed the exhibition in the fall just so that they could reopen it in 2026 and call it part of the 250th festivities.

A national anniversary calls for a presentation that fully highlights the ideals and principles articulated by the nation’s founders. Dedicated exhibitions should leave visitors with a clear understanding of the American Founding, its values, and our achievements across two and a half centuries.  

Though this failure is not isolated to the upcoming holiday. The permanent exhibits throughout the American History Museum have a noticeable lack of content surrounding the American Founding.

The exhibit “American Democracy” provides volumes of material on political parties, women’s suffrage, and racially motivated disenfranchisement, but seldom references the Founding Fathers, founding documents, or founding values.

One notable example is displayed early in the exhibit; the wall text describes the signing of the Declaration of Independence as a “great leap of faith,” and the text is quick to undercut the achievement and bravery represented in the document by stating, “Americans also inherited a belief in social hierarchy and institutions that perpetuated inequality.”  

The founding ideals are obscured within this exhibit, not only because they are usually referenced within the context of America’s failings, but also because they are never clearly articulated. Achievement is paired with indictment, ensuring that pride is tempered, or replaced by critique.

This is the deeper problem. By elevating an undefined “shared future” over a well-defined past, the Smithsonian risks severing Americans from the inheritance that binds them together.

A sense of national unity can overcome race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and any other form of subgroup. 

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is the perfect opportunity for the Smithsonian to correctly celebrate our nation’s principles and its accomplishments.

But time is running out.

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Anna Gustafson is a Research Assistant in the Allison Center for National Security at The Heritage Foundation. Ellie Carson is a former member of Heritage’s Young Leaders Program.