Smithsonian chief Lonnie G. Bunch III resigns

0:00Big news coming out of the Smithsonian Institution today. Its head, Lonnie G. Bunch III, has announced he's stepping down at the end of this year. The Trump administration has been highly critical of the Smithsonian. Just last month, a Department of the Interior sent a letter accusing the Smithsonian of advancing a, quote, divisive ideological agenda. It also threatened the Smithsonian's funding. In another part of the show, we hear from Lonnie Bunch himself. Now, when Pierre's Andrew Limbong joins us to discuss the news of Bunch's resignation. Hi Andrew. Hey Sasha. Tell us a bit about Lonnie Bunch and how long he's been in this role. Yeah, he's been the secretary of the Smithsonian since 2019. He's actually the first historian and the first African-American to hold that post. And there he's not just in charge of the museums that the Smithsonian is known for, but also you know, its libraries, the research centers, the national zoo. He's been with the Smithsonian for like four decades first as a curator and then in 2005, he became the head of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

1:00And this is before it even had a building. And I think it's fair to say that his crown achievement was the construction and the opening of that museum's building on the National Mall in DC, which opened September 2016. So a decade old this year? So that's pretty much. Yeah, pretty much. Exactly. He actually spoke to Pierre when the museum turned one year old. And here's a little bit of what he had to say to give you inside us to have what he thinks about museums. People need to find a place where they can understand history, that they can get the facts, places where they feel free to have the conversations. And so for many people, they come to the museum and they say, we realize that progress is not linear. But what we now believe is the museum tells us to no matter what, we can affect change. Andrew, he's talking there about the role he sees for museums in American life. But tell us about the pressure he's been under from the president himself. Yeah, let's start with March 2025. That's when President Trump issued an executive order titled restoring truth and

2:01sanity to American history. And there he accused the institution of replacing fact with ideology and said that the Smithsonian was being divisive as it portrayed American and Western values as harmful and oppressive. Jump ahead to July 4th of this year, the administration released this huge report. It's about 160 pages. And it focused on the National, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and said that that museum engages in anti-white activism, transgender activism, quote, illegal alien activism, and that it was targeting the youth with their radical ideology. And like you mentioned in the intro just last month, the Department of Interior threatened the Smithsonian's funding, which comes from Congress, but it also said that the executive department couldn't continue to support the Smithsonian under its current leadership. How has Bunch been dealing with the pressure he's come under? Well, he's been kind of reticent to truly go toe to toe with President Trump in a public form. It's not really in his nature to start popping off tweets and have this drag out fight in front of everyone in public. But behind the scenes, he did defend the work that he and the rest of the people at the Smithsonian do. After that big report in July, Bunch sent an email to staff stating

3:04that quote, our work is driven by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America's stories. Bunch told NPR that he was stepping down because he was getting old and wanted some time to relax, maybe write a couple books, and he deflected any notion that this had to do with criticisms from President Trump. I think we can take all that with a bit of a grain of salt in this statement that the Smithsonian released announcing Bunch's retirement. He wrote that he had mixed emotions, and that while he was filled with gratitude for working with the Smithsonian, he leaves with pride and sadness, but also confidence in the people carrying the institution forward. When he steps down at the end of this year, is there already some sort of public succession plan in place? There will probably be an interim secretary to take his place, but one hasn't been named yet. But the board in control of the Smithsonian announced that they are starting a national search there for a new secretary. That is NPR's Andrew Limbong. He's been telling us about the head of the Smithsonian announcing today. He will step down at the end of this year. Andrew, thank you. Thanks, doctor.