About 700 volunteer photographers have built an archive of more than 50,000 photos and videos of Smithsonian exhibits, while also staging support protests at the National Museum of American History.
The effort began after Trump’s March 2025 order targeting “improper ideology” and intensified after a July 24 order demanding warning signs at the museum, plus a 162-page White House report and congressional hearings.
Organizers say the archive is meant to preserve a record of exhibits they fear could be altered under political pressure, spanning all 21 Smithsonian museums, New York sites and traveling shows.
The campaign has widened beyond collections to backing museum staff and documenting the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress and National Archives as activists warn the fight over cultural institutions is spreading.
The Smithsonian has so far resisted the administration’s most aggressive demands, though federal funding supplies about 60% of its $1.25 billion annual budget.