Stimson Demands Smithsonian Leadership Overhaul After 2 Hearings on American History Exhibits
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 15
Stimson Demands Smithsonian Leadership Overhaul After 2 Hearings on American History Exhibits
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 15
Summary
Cully Stimson called for a full leadership reset at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, saying Director Anthea Hartig should have been fired after two recent congressional hearings.
The Heritage Foundation legal fellow said the museum presents a “self-loathing” and pro-reparations view of U.S. history, faulting exhibits that emphasize slavery, race, gender and sexuality over the Founding Fathers and the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
His criticism follows a July 2026 White House report accusing the Smithsonian of pushing DEI and left-wing agendas, charges that fueled heated Capitol Hill scrutiny of the museum.
Hartig has said the museum is nonpartisan and does not take sides in political debates, while Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to whitewash darker parts of American history.
Stimson cast the dispute as part of a broader fight over how U.S. history is taught in schools and national institutions, arguing parents should play a larger role ahead of the country’s 250th-anniversary spotlight.