On Tuesday, the longtime secretary of the Smithsonian Institution announced his retirement at the end of the year. The move follows repeated clashes with the Trump administration over the direction of the institution, which encompasses numerous museums, research centers, libraries, and the National Zoo. Lonnie G. Bunch III is the fourteenth secretary in 173 years of the institution, but also the first Black man and first historian to serve as head of the Smithsonian.
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“It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement,” Bunch said in a statement. “I have spent nearly half of my life working at and being part of the Smithsonian family, and what a privilege it has been. There is no place like the Smithsonian—it has been one of the great loves of my life, and I am extraordinarily proud of what we have accomplished together. I leave with pride and sadness, gratitude and joy, and with enormous confidence in the people who will carry this remarkable institution forward.”
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By some accounts, Donald Trump will almost certainly be one of those people. The Smithsonian Institution has long been one of the president’s targets for alleged “wokeness” in its messaging regarding race, immigration, slavery, LGBTQ identity and people with disabilities. Most recently, a White House labeled museum and Smithsonian leadership untrustworthy radicals. It took special issue with the National Museum of American History, claiming it has “become subject to institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology that is fundamentally opposed to telling the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love.”
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